


Infected

by emquin



Category: Glee
Genre: AU, F/M, Klaine, M/M, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-04
Updated: 2014-10-23
Packaged: 2018-01-14 12:00:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 32,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1265749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emquin/pseuds/emquin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It all began in Ohio, a few scientific discoveries and a disaster later and the world as Kurt Hummel knew it was gone and taken over by zombies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I just finished catching up on The Walking Dead just as glee came back and so this the result. I don't know how long it will be...or even how often I will update, but this is my klaine zombie AU. 
> 
> Although I had originally planned for the story to jump right into a world where the zombies already roamed the earth, I decided to start it before that...so this chapter sets up how it happens and where our characters are. It is set sometime in the next school year where Sam, Blaine, and Artie have all moved to New York. 
> 
> Everything in cannon has been taken into account so far.
> 
> Also, this is unbeta'd.

In a locked room, with only an oblong table and eight chairs, the world changed. A meeting between five men and two women on the eve of a breakthrough, had consequences that no one would have foreseen.

“The trials have all worked. I think we’re there. Five years later and we have a cure,” one of the women said. She was of average height and weight and wore a stained white lab coat.

“Dr. Green, I am astounded,” one of the men said, fixing his tie, “I must admit that I did not see this meeting today ever happening.”

“Oh, pish posh, Grimes, all you’ve been worried about is your money. You don’t care that Ellen or Miles have been killing themselves working on the medical trials because you had this deadline hanging over their heads.”

Grimes had the decency to look a little abashed.

“And the FDA?” the second woman asked, she was the opposite of Ms. Green, looking almost model like.

All eyes turned to Ms. Green.

“It’s a go,” she said, “the new treatment is a go. We have new patients ready and waiting across the country and with all of our results it looks like AIDS will be eradicated. All treatments will begin starting tomorrow.”

“In this room,” Miles said, “we have just changed history.”

“Again,” added another of men that had yet to speak.

“Again,” repeated Grimes, “and all because of my generosity.”

Miles rolled his eyes, but it was the man that had called out Grimes earlier that spoke, “All because of the Green’s. Look, we all get you funded most of this, but think of the amazing things your funding has done for the world. Think of your wife saved from Cancer because of other of our research scientists. Now we’re defeating AIDS. Your money has gone to a good cause.”

\--

All over the news there was only one story that everyone heard or read about, and that was the amazing story of a small medical research company in the Midwest that had been the source of two life changing discoveries. Two different groups of scientists, both funded by a man that went only by name of Grimes, had come up with a treatment/cure for both Cancer, and a few months following that announcement, AIDS.

Kurt Hummel was tired of hearing about the discovery. It was all anyone talked about for months after the second announcement. Even his boyfriend couldn’t get enough of watching all the interviews or Dr. Ellen Green or her husband Dr. Miles Green. They were a fascinating couple of course having both played a central part in each discovery, but each interview was getting to be all recycled answers that Kurt didn’t think required repetition time and time again.

On top of the doctors themselves being interviewed, there were the first cured patients. These were a little more interesting, but Kurt couldn’t listen to another sob story.

That’s why while he sat in one of the hard subway chairs on his way home from NYADA, he tried to tune out the two women talking about how one or another of their family members had been doing the Cancer treatment and it was fully working. Instead, he focused on his phone and pictures of he and Blaine from just the past few weeks.

A few stops later, it was his turn to get up and head back up to the street. He would walk just a couple of blocks and then he’d be home. Blaine had promised pizza and cuddles and Kurt couldn’t wait for either.

When he got up to the loft, it was to find Santana sitting in front of the T.V. with a familiar script sitting beside her. She didn’t even greet him when he walked in.

“Is Blaine here yet?”

She shrugged her shoulders.

Kurt rolled his eyes. “He had a morning class so I figured he’d be home by now.”

He walked towards the portion of the loft that was his and Blaine’s. So far, they had been living together for three months. Blaine had wanted to move as soon as his graduation was over, but Kurt had convinced him otherwise due to all the Rachel and Santana drama. Instead, as soon as Kurt was done with the semester he had gone back to Lima.

Then, in late July, he had helped Blaine pack up all his things and he, Blaine, and Sam had driven all the way to New York because Blaine insisted that one of them have a car in case of emergencies. There hadn’t been an emergency since they’d arrived, but they had gotten to use to drive to New Jersey and spend some time on the shore before the summer was over. In the end, it wasn’t a bad idea to have a car and Blaine’s parents were willing to keep paying for the insurance so at least there was that.

For the first month following their move, Sam and Blaine had both been living in the loft with Kurt and Santana. Rachel had gotten her own place and Sam had taken to staying at her place some nights until eventually he moved in claiming that he was sick of sleeping on the couch and he’d be able to fit a bed at Rachel’s tiny apartment. Santana had practically packed his bags for him and sent him on his way.

So, it was just Kurt, Blaine, and Santana at the Bushwick loft and Kurt thought it was the perfect set up. Santana still spent too much time in the shower, and sometimes she liked walking in on him and Blaine, but she didn’t sing in the middle of night because she couldn’t sleep and she understood the need for Kurt and Blaine to spent time alone as long as she could do the same with Dani on occasion. It was all working out.

“Breaking News, an explosion has just occurred at Coutt’s Medical Research Laboratories. No one knows exactly what happened, but the labs that brought us two amazing discoveries have all but been destroyed.”

Kurt paused on his way to his room. Santana had sat up and was staring at the television with interest and Kurt stepped over to the couch to join her. He might have gotten sick of hearing the repeated stories about the cures, but this was big news. A lab blowing up, when did that happen?

The reporter on the screen was relaying the whole history of the lab and Kurt paid her no mind until she stopped.

“We are on the scene now, field reporter Roberts, what is it like out there?”

The screen changed and they could all see what the scene was like on the screen. There was mostly smoke, but some fire could still be seen.

“As you can see,” Roberts said, “it doesn’t look like any of the lab has made it. About an hour ago, people in the surrounding areas started hearing an alarm. Some minutes later the explosion happened. No one knows the cause of it yet, and an investigation is sure to begin in the next few hours but for now the focus is finding survivors. No one from the lab had yet to make an appearance. Famous Dr. Ellen Green and Dr. Miles Green are said to have been within the lab.”

This was the moment when Blaine entered the loft, followed by Sam. They were both laughing and bickering but stopped when they spotter Kurt and Santana by the T.V.

“What happened?” Sam asked.

“The labs, the ones the cures came from, they blew up,” Kurt said, “no one knows what happened yet.”

“Wow,” Sam said, “I said someone would do that. Didn’t I say that they would be targeted by terrorists for doing something good for the world?”

Santana rolled her eyes. “Yes, you also said the treatments wouldn’t work and cause death.”

The four of them sat in front of the T.V. for an hour watching the coverage, and then when it went back to normal programming Kurt declared it was time for a shower and for them to order something for them to eat.

\--

Three days later, the news was still covering the explosion and the investigation as to what happened within the labs was still ongoing and no one had any answers, even Kurt was curious as to what happened. Theories were abound and one was crazier than another. Then, late on a Saturday evening, another news story took its place.

A man was found dead in a home not too far from the labs by a police officer. While that wasn’t a weird occurrence, the weird part was that the man looked like some animal had attacked him and eaten him. A picture had not been shown but a description had been enough for Kurt to shudder.

A few days later there was another dead body. Then two more. Three.

After a week, there were five. Sam claimed that there had to be more, it couldn’t just be five. A search for a wild animal or a pack of animals began.

No more deaths were reported after the sixth, a little girl, but Sam thought there had to be more and they just didn’t want the public to know about them.

Both of the news stories died down when there was nothing new to report and Kurt continued with his routine of school, working at the dinner, and going to the Vogue.com offices for the five hours that he was now limited to spending there. He and Blaine went on a few dates, but more often than not they stayed in and told Santana to stay out of the apartment.

Sex had only gotten better since they were both in New York, probably because they weren’t sneaking around parents and because it was such a constant in their lives. They had the freedom to take hours to explore every inch of skin on each other’s bodies and try all the things they’d always wanted to do like tying Blaine’s hands to the headboard while Kurt worked his mouth on Blaine’s cock, or Kurt getting to be as loud as he wanted to be while Blaine pounded into him. There was also slow, torturous sex that led to the best orgasms.

And it was on one of the nights when Santana had been told to strictly that she had to stay out of the apartment for the night that loud rapping on their door stopped their activities before they’d even begun.

“I’ll get it,” Kurt sighed.

“Get rid of them,” Blaine whispered, “I’ll be waiting.”

It was hard for Kurt to walk away and not just ignore the knocks that continued.

Sam and Rachel burst into the loft. “Have you heard?” Sam said excitedly, and then, “where’s Blaine?”

“Well come right on in, you’re all invited to interrupt—”

Sam ignored him and cut him off, “this is serious, Kurt.”

It was only then that Kurt really took in their genuinely concerned faces. Sam had some excitement on his, but Rachel looked downright scared.

“What – what happened?” he asked, unsure if he even wanted an answer.

“There’s something going on in Ohio,” Rachel said.

“Hey, Kurt, why are you taking so long?” Blaine had redressed, and he stood looking a little disheveled just outside of their room.

“Sam and Rachel have something to tell us,” Kurt said.

“Blaine!” Sam exclaimed, “I think the zombie apocalypse is upon us.”

There was a beat, and then Rachel rolled her eyes dramatically. “Now that is going too far,” she said, “but there is something going on. My dad were in Columbus this morning at the hospital visiting a friend and they told me they saw a man being admitted with a bite that looked like the ones from all those dead bodies. Anyway, they overheard one of the doctors saying that there is no way an animal would have bitten anyone like that. They said it looked like it was caused by a human.”

Sam jumped in, “zombies, it has to be. Fact: they like to eat humans. Fact: they originate from a deadly uncontained virus.”

Rachel glared at Sam. “Look, the facts are that the lab is in Portsmouth and most of those deaths took place there or near it, but this guy that got away, well, he’s from Dayton so whatever it is, whoever it is that’s doing that, they’re not far from Lima. The authorities, they aren’t reporting this stuff and frankly my dads are worried. They won’t get back to Lima until tomorrow, so I thought you’d want to call your dad, Kurt.”

Kurt had already pulled out his phone, but his dad didn’t answer. When he phoned Carole it went to voicemail. He tried not to worry about them.

Blaine pulled his phone out as well and he spoke to his mom who Kurt knew was probably only humoring Blaine because that was the kind of woman she was.

\--

The days following Sam and Rachel barging into the loft had Kurt listening for any story related to Ohio on the news. He had finally gotten through to his dad, but his dad had shrugged off the danger as rumors.

“Kurt, I’m a Congressman, I think I would have heard of something by now. Sorry to disappoint Sam but there are no such thing as zombies.”

Kurt was reassured, but something in his gut told him that there was still something going on. There was another reported death, but more mysterious than that, were the missing person reports. At first it was just two or three in Columbus, a couple in Dayton, and then one in Westerville, and some more in Dayton, a few in Portsmouth, and finally one in Lima.

Kurt called his dad again.

“Kid, I’m flattered you want to call your old man every day, but there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Dad, even if this isn’t zombies, there are still an awful lot of missing persons and deaths. Nothing like this has ever happened before.”

His dad had shrugged him off. “Listen, kid, I know you have something alerting you whenever anything happens in Ohio so now you’re actually hearing about it, but things like this happen all the time. Nothing to worry about.”

Other things distracted Kurt at that point and he once more lost himself to his routine until the day when his phone rang at 3 a.m. in the morning.

“Kurt, I have to make this quick,” his dad’s hushed voice said, “I shouldn’t even be calling.”

“Wha—dad?”

Kurt pulled away from Blaine’s arms to sit up and he heard Blaine wake up. “Kurt, what’s going on?”

“Listen, Kurt, just listen. You were right. You and Sam and Blaine you were all right. Something is going on. We were trying to find a cure, fix it somehow, but it’s out. It can’t be contained and it’s mutating.”

It was hard to understand what his dad was saying while he was so groggy. He nudged Blaine and somehow managed to get the phone on speaker.

“They’ll announce it tomorrow,” his dad said, “you’ll know everything then, but I want you prepared. Buy water, food, toilet paper. Anything you’ll need just in case – use your emergency card, it doesn’t matter. Tell your friends too. If it can’t be stopped here, things are going to get bad.”

“Dad?”

“Mr. Hummel?” Blaine asked, and then he looked at Kurt, “what’s going on?”

His dad didn’t speak for a moment.

“Sorry, had to make sure they don’t know I’m calling. Boys, take care of each other. I love you, both of you. Don’t – if things get bad here, I don’t – I don’t want you coming to look for me. Promise me, that. Kurt, promise.”

His voice was shaky when he answered. “I promise,” he whispered.

“You too, Blaine.”

“Sir, I—”

“Blaine, please.”

“I promise.”

There were some loud sounds from his dad’s side of the conversation and then a rustling.

“I have to go,” Burt said, “I’ll be okay. There are measures being put in place. I have to go. I love you.”

“Love you, dad,” Kurt mumbled, but it was to a dial tone.

“Kurt?” Blaine asked.

Kurt dropped the phone, uncaring of where it landed. He turned to Blaine. “I think my dad is saying Sam was right, or partially right I still don’t believe in zombies. Something’s happening.”

Blaine reached for him and Kurt fell into his chest.

“It’ll be alright. They’ll stop it, whatever it is.”

“And if they don’t?”

“Then, we fight or we hide and survive. We figure something out. The point is I’ll always be with you at your side and nothing can get us as long as that’s true. I love you, Kurt.”

“I love you too,” Kurt whispered.

They lay in silence for a while and Kurt tried not to imagine every possible horrible scenario of what might be going on. His dad hadn’t been very open in detail about what was going on, just that it was getting out of hand to the point where it couldn’t be hidden anymore. He was tempted to buy a ticket on the next plane to Ohio and ignore his dad’s warnings, but the promise he’d made in the end made him stop.

“Tomorrow we have to stock up,” Blaine whispered, “like your dad said. We’ll tell the rest and get prepared.”

Kurt nodded. He hoped his dad was right and there was no need to be prepared for anything. Maybe his dad was just being extra cautious.

\--

Kurt didn’t hear from his dad the next day. He and Blaine skipped school and dragged Sam and Santana with them in Blaine’s car to New Jersey and a Costco. There they managed to buy everything they might need in bulk and also explain why they were doing so to Santana and Sam.

When they got back in the city, it was time to tell Rachel and Artie and a few other friends. They phoned Mercedes, Tina, and Mike and explained the situation. Rachel called Quinn and Puck. Sam called Mr. Shuester. It was hard to sell the necessity for them to be prepared for anything, but they tried.

Just like Kurt’s dad had predicted there was an announcement that night. Kurt, Blaine, Sam, Rachel, Artie, Dani, and even Elliot were in the loft glued to the T.V. while some government representative spoke.

“We are in a state of emergency,” the man said, “one that I never expected to deal with while on my term as President. It is not one crisis that anyone could have expected. A deadly virus has escaped into the air. We are working to contain it and eradicate it, and have been doing so since it’s discovery. It is sad to say that this virus could have come from Coutt’s labs. It is unclear if this was something created or a combination that came out of the explosion. So far, there have been multiple deaths related to the virus but the number of infected is not known. These cases have been isolated to Ohio.”

He paused, as if readying himself for the next thing he would have to say and after what felt like a few long minutes, he continued, “As of now Ohio has become quarantined. No one will come in or out until we are sure that the threat is eliminated.”

Rachel gasped. “Oh, god,” she said, “it’s bad then.”

Kurt could remember his dad’s worried voice from last night. He’d known this was coming.

Reporters had begun asking questions. Kurt only half listened. A few were about technicalities. Others questioned if it was possible for the virus to have already gotten out of Ohio.

The last question was the one Kurt really listened to.

“So, what are the symptoms? How can you tell when someone has it?”

“This virus is not like a flu,” the representative said, “we don’t know how it begins yet, but we know it affects the brain. We think it drives people insane. They become cannibals.”

No one said anything for a while, and then they all looked at Sam.

“It is zombies, isn’t it?” He asked.


	2. It Spread In Three Months

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took a little too long because I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it...but at any rate it is here, enjoy.

Nothing fell into chaos all at once. In fact, Blaine and Kurt had conversations with their parents every night for the following two months after Ohio was shut off from the rest of country. Still, though, they couldn’t help but worry. Everyone worried and no one had any real news. 

“It’s like we’ve been holding our breaths waiting for something horrible,” Kurt said one morning over breakfast, “and we still don’t even know what to expect.”

About half the country expected zombies. The other half thought it was something else entirely. No one had any answers. 

Then, one morning, everything changed. Someone in Kentucky died and it was suspiciously like the deaths reported in Ohio. After that things began to change slowly and suddenly Ohio was not the only state closed off, and yet it continued to spread. Everyone was wary of strangers. Curfews began to be put in place, and a month later, Blaine saw an actual tank drive right past their street. That was the day everyone was told to stay home. 

“We should all be together,” Rachel said over the phone, “Sam and I will come to the loft. We’ll stop and get Artie.”

Blaine looked at Kurt who nodded, but continued to stare at his own phone, watching his call go to voicemail time and time again. 

“He’s not answering, Blaine, my dad isn’t answering.”

Blaine bit down on his lower lip. “Do you want us to pick you guys up? Might be easier.”

“No, no, we’ll be fine. We’ll see you soon.”

After Rachel hung up, Blaine moved closer to Kurt. “Kurt, he said he might be unreachable.”

Kurt shook his head. “But what if something happened to him? I know we said we wouldn’t go looking for him, but I can’t imagine not knowing if he’s okay.”

Blaine kissed the side of his face, “honey, he’ll call soon.”

His phone began to ring and he turned away from Kurt. “It’s Santana,” he said.

“I’m bringing Dani and Elliot, we’re leaving the diner now, do you guys want us to pick anything up?”

They had made three more Costco runs since the first one. Their loft was well stocked, and Blaine hadn’t told Kurt yet, but he and Sam had purchased a gun. It was hidden under a loose floorboard. 

“No, you’ve seen this place.”

Kurt’s phone rang, then, and from the way Kurt jumped and pressed it to his ear, Blaine was sure he knew who it was. 

“Dad,” he breathed and Blaine sighed. 

“Are you alright? What’s happening?”

Blaine followed Kurt with his eyes. Most of the worry that had been on his shoulders fell away and Kurt stood a little looser. He walked back to where Blaine was and sat down.

“We’re home, dad,” Kurt said, “we have supplies and we’re ready to hold in here, but you haven’t told us what we’re trying to get away from.”

Kurt pulled the phone away and put it on speaker. 

“Hi, Burt,” Blaine managed.

“Hey, Blaine,” Burt said, “I hope you’re taking care of our boy.”

Blaine smiled. “Of course I am.”

He reached over for Kurt’s hand. Kurt’s hands were so familiar to him, that he didn’t get nervous when holding them anymore, but he was still in awe of how well they fit with his. 

“So, dad, what’s going on?”

“We were too late,” Burt said, “way too late. Some people think it may have been out even before the explosion. The virus was airborne, easily spread from one person to another and not easily detected because it’s a cure – a mutated form of those two cures. The dead are reanimated.”

Blaine didn’t understand what it meant. Sure, the dead coming back to life immediately meant zombies and he’d read enough books and watched enough movies all under the influence of Sam to understand that, but past that none of it actually made sense. If it animated the dead, then why weren’t dead people rising and walking around already and for that matter, how would they have gotten infected?

Kurt must have been having the same thought, “how does that work? Is mom back?”

“No, no,” Burt was quick to say, “it only works on those already infected. Kurt, I know I’m infected. It’s not for sure, but hell, I must be and boys, you might be as well by now. When I die, I will come back as one of them, but I will have lost my humanity.”

\- -

For the first few hours after everyone arrived at the loft, they were all nervously trying not to bring up the topic of the virus and the zombies. Blaine sat at their kitchen table watching Kurt bake, and staring at his phone, wondering if Cooper or his parents would return his calls. The last he’d heard from Cooper he was laughing about the matter and more worried about getting a role on a pilot for a new show. His phone calls hadn’t been answered since. His parents had been calling every day with updates. 

Blaine knew his dad had tried to get them out of Ohio but failed. So, instead they had gone along with the government and CDC officials and his mother had been very clear on how little they were saying. Blaine could only assume they were still alright, but he just wasn’t sure. 

Kurt pulled the chair next to him back and sank into it. “What do you think is going to happen?” 

“Well,” Blaine said, “if we go by any zombie movie I’ve seen, then we can stay here as long as we have to. We have supplies and even if we are infected as long as none of us die, then everything will be fine.”

Kurt nodded along, “until they come into the building,” Kurt said.

“Well, yeah, but they move slow right and it shouldn’t be hard to get rid of them.”

“Not according to Sam’s movies,” Kurt said and got up again. 

He checked on whatever he was baking and then leaned back on the oven. Blaine regarded him. It was hard to not just walk over and take Kurt in his arms and promise that everything would be okay. The thing was they didn’t know if it was. If somehow the government couldn’t stop the virus from spreading then who knew what would happen.

“Well, then,” Blaine said, “let’s make a pact. If I die and if I come back like one of them, then I’m trusting you to kill me. And, I, I’ll kill you.”

It would have sounded weird without the context of the impending zombie apocalypse. Blaine waited for Kurt to answer. He didn’t expect for Kurt to laugh.

“What?” he asked.

“Honey,” Kurt said, “I don’t think you could do it. I don’t think I could do it.”

It was one thing to say it, that was for sure, but another entirely to actually do it. Looking at Kurt’s face still alight with amusement, he knew that there was no way he could kill Kurt, even zombie Kurt.

“You’re right,” Blaine said and he frowned, “I guess we’re doomed to die by being eaten. Do you think I’d taste alright?”

Kurt rounded the table and his arms settled around Blaine’s shoulders and he leaned his head against Blaine’s. “I for one think you’re delicious. Promise me something else, and this one you must keep, don’t turn into a zombie.”

Blaine leaned his head against Kurt’s. “I’ll promise to try my very best to stay human if you do as well.” 

Kurt let out a half giggle-chortle. “Well I am good with the sais.”

“Really good,” Blaine whispered.

Blaine couldn’t believe he had forgotten the sais swords that Kurt had learned to use for his audition for West Side Story. He had continued to practice them after the choreographed number and had gotten quite good at twirling them without causing himself or others harm. 

\- -

Somehow in the following weeks everything went to chaos. For a little while the news continued to report things, but then even that stopped. An emergency radio urged people to stay home, but it didn’t seem like everyone was listening. It wasn’t just New York but the whole country. Then after almost two months things got even worse. 

For a while, they didn’t see or hear any of it, until one night loud sounds coming from the streets outside startled Blaine awake and with him Kurt. They cautiously went to the window. 

There was a crowd outside. People were yelling and screaming and fully dressed military stood with guns trying to get them to stay back. 

“What’s going on?” Kurt asked. 

“I don’t think anyone was forewarned enough. No one can really leave anywhere. Some probably didn’t think it would be this long. Hell, our supplies have dwindled from what we first had.”

It was the truth. They had bought a lot, but with seven mouths to feed it was all disappearing fast. Others couldn’t have been as prepared. 

“Well they should do something about it,” Kurt said. 

Blaine sighed. “Even if people were allowed to go to their local stores, it’s not like we’re getting stuff in. State borders are closed up.”

It was that night that Blaine really and truly came to accept that they weren’t in a situation that could be resolved easily. Everything, and that meant absolutely everything, was at a standstill. There had been no word from Washington since right before the beginning, and these days even Kurt’s dad had little to tell them because even he didn’t know. 

“It’s a dog eat dog world out there right now, boys, and things are only getting worse,” Burt had said the last time he called.

Blaine didn’t even want to think about the rest of the world. Surely it hadn’t spread outside of the U.S.? No one could know for sure. 

“Will we be okay?” Kurt asked in a small voice.

Blaine wrapped his arms around his fiancé. “I hope so.”

The yelling outside continued and Blaine turned away. He didn’t really care much for violence. 

\- -

They were all going stir crazy. Santana tried to appease that by having sex with Dani all the time. Everyone knew it was happening, but no one said anything because at least the girls had the decency to keep it quiet. Rachel spent most of her time watching old musicals and memorizing songs and monologues that she would then try to act out with whoever she found willing. It was usually either Elliot or Sam. 

Elliot for his part spent a lot of time reading and cleaning after all of them. Kurt had tried to stop him, but he insisted on the basis that they took him in when they didn’t have to. 

Sam and Artie played a lot of video games when they weren’t theorizing on how things might get fixed or if they weren’t trying to contact their other friends stuck in other states. Blaine joined them on occasion, but for the most part he stayed by Kurt’s side. They finished books together, cuddled, and spent hours watching old television shows. Neither felt as comfortable as Santana and Dani did, to just slip into their bedroom and have a romp in the sheets in the middle of the afternoon or morning, though they had their moments when they were sure everyone else was asleep. 

It was hard to keep busy, and Blaine never quite got used to just lounging around and not having anywhere to be or anything to do. For the first few weeks he’d taken to wandering up to the building’s roof and looking out at the empty streets and wondering if one day it would turn into something like out of a movie with the dead wondering the streets, shuffling in groups or alone and grunting. Now that the streets were no longer empty and instead seemed more dangerous than ever, Blaine had stopped going up there. 

As more time went on, it was easier to get used to not having to do anything, except that they were all waiting for something to happen. 

Then, it did. 

The phone rang about halfway through the afternoon. It was Burt.

“Hi dad,” Kurt said and then a few seconds later, “I’ll put you on speaker, hold on.”

It took Kurt a moment to fix the volume on his phone, and then Burt’s voice came through. 

“Hey, guys,” he said, “I have some news. They’re telling everyone to head to the big cities, easier to keep people protected and easier to keep people fed. They should be announcing it soon on the emergency radio. The National Guard won’t be so spread out this way either. Supplies are being gathered. New York City is sure to be one of them. I don’t want you to leave the apartment unless you have to, but help is coming.”

“What about you, dad?” Kurt asked. 

Blaine reached over to grab his free hand. 

“I’m alright, Kurt. I’m still in Columbus with Carole but we might be relocated soon. Ohio is a mess. I know I don’t speak of it, but they’re dangerous. We’ve heard from a few people, but a lot of towns have been taken over. I don’t mean to scare you, but it’s worse than we thought.”

Anytime that Burt called, everyone sat around to hear what he had to say. He was their source of news from Ohio and about everything else. All government officials were in the know and Blaine was glad to have a source of news even if every time Burt called for than to check up on them, he always had worse news. Things were just getting worse and worse. 

Just as Burt had said, shelters began to be set up all over the city and people began to pour in after they were asked to move into the big cities. Their group stayed in their loft. They didn’t need to be in the shelters and they still had plenty of supplies. 

It had been a bit of an argument between Sam, Elliott, Rachel, and Kurt when the shelters began appearing. Elliott and Sam wanted to go and get them more supplies, but Rachel and Kurt were adamant that no one leave. 

“We aren’t sure if any of us have it,” Rachel hissed, “if it’s a virus we don’t know if we have it but someone else might.” 

So, they didn’t go, but even Blaine was a bit torn about it. They had a lot of supplies sure, but if things kept getting worse then he was sure that they would finish them off and by then who knew if the shelters or the offers of shelter and food would still be there. 

The riots came to a stop as soon as the shelters began to run, it seemed that as long as they were being taken care of people were calm. It seemed for a couple of weeks like things would begin to be normal again. According to Burt labs had been set up for research in Washington but nothing had come of it yet. The fact that there was organization taking place made Blaine hopeful that an answer would come from the labs and that society wouldn’t really break down into chaos. 

\- -

Weeks after the shelters were up and running, Sam finally got through to Rachel that at least one of them had to head out and get them a few more supplies. So, Rachel went to Kurt and Sam and Elliot both took empty backpacks and left the loft. Blaine had mentioned wanting to go with them but a look from Kurt had stopped him from pressing the subject. 

For the moment things looked like they might turn around, but a cure had yet to be found and as long as there wasn’t one they had to be cautious. 

“Come on,” Kurt said, “I don’t want to think about them out there.”

They went to Kurt’s room and Kurt pulled Blaine towards the bed and after he’d laid down, Kurt placed his head on his chest. Before either could fall asleep or even begin a conversation, Rachel was yelling their names. 

“Come out quick! Kurt! Blaine! Oh my god, oh my god…”

They rushed out. Rachel and Santana were pressed against the window looking out at the street and Dani was pacing behind them, taking peaks outside from time to time and then glancing at the door. 

“What’s happening?” Kurt asked. 

“It’s Sam and Elliot,” Rachel said, “they’re outside.”

Blaine leaned over Santana to peer out. 

They were outside and behind them came a crowd of zombies.


	3. A Crowd Of Zombies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a whole lot of fun to write, so I hope you guys enjoy it.

Sam thought it was a little too quiet for middle of the afternoon, but he figured everyone might still be at the shelters themselves or home so he didn’t mind walking and Elliot was good company at any rate. 

“It’s nice to be outside for once,” Elliot said, “after being cooped up in there. I miss my apartment.” 

“Me too,” Sam said, “although it’s nice being around everyone again.”

They kept walking. They could see the nearest shelter tent which had been set up on the street just down from the loft. That was the reason Rachel had relented in the end – the fact that it was near. 

“Wait,” Elliot said and Sam came to a stop. 

“What?” Sam asked.

“Something’s wrong.”

The shelter tent was empty. There was no one on the street or within and there should have been. Only one thing could explain that: zombies. 

“Do you think—”

“Uh…yeah,” Sam muttered, “should we check it out? Do you think it’s safe?” 

Elliot shook his head. “No, man, let’s head back.” Sam had never seen Elliot look as scared as he looked in that moment. 

Usually Elliot was all smiles and dramatics and this Elliot with wide eyes and a concerned frown was the opposite of that. He looked ready to bolt and Sam knew that he would be right on his tracks even though a small part of him – the part that had been happy to play superheroes with Blaine back in high school – wanted to keep going and see what had been left behind at the shelter tents. 

“Or maybe not,” Elliot said and when Sam looked at him, it was to find shock and horror written over his face. 

When he turned, he knew why, behind them were zombies. About half wore uniforms that must have belonged to the people working at the shelter. Others wore civilian clothing. They walked slowly, dragging their bodies. Some limped, and one or two were even crawling. It was their faces that made them look menacing. They were really and truly dead, breaking down and rotting all while still walking around. 

“Come on,” Elliot said, “we have to get back to the loft.” 

“How?” Sam asked. 

The zombies were practically at the entrance of the loft, but walking towards Sam and Elliot. 

\- - -

Kurt acted before any of the others. Instead of standing by the window or trying to make some sort of decision like Dani was doing, he ran back towards the bedroom and pulled the trunk he’d stashed under his bed. In it were a few random items that he knew would come in handy in that moment. Wrapped in fabric were his sais swords. He pulled them out and didn’t even spare a second to panic before he was out of his corner of the room. He was out where Santana had thrown the window open. She and Rachel were yelling for the boys to run, but Kurt didn’t think they could have heard them. 

Blaine was on the floor, and Dani was helping him move something, but Kurt didn’t think he had the time to wait and find out what they were doing. There were zombies outside and Sam and Elliot were out there with them.

“Kurt! Kurt, what are you doing?” 

Kurt threw open the door and he glanced back before it closed behind him, “I’m getting those idiots back inside.” 

“No, Kurt! Kurt, you can’t go out there—”

Kurt ignored Blaine’s voice and he kept running, taking the stairs. His hands shook and his whole body thrummed with worry and nerves, but he had to go out there. He wouldn’t watch his friends get eaten because they were too stupid to notice that a hoard of zombies were walking in their direction. It had been such a bad idea to let Rachel plead for their case. 

“Kurt!” 

“Damn it, Blaine,” Kurt murmured. “Get back inside, Blaine!” 

Blaine came running behind him and Dani was after him.

“What are you going to do? Kurt, there’s too many, we don’t have weapons, Sam and Elliot will have to outrun them or hide. I wanted to come after them too, but it’s too dangerous,” Dani said, “please, both of you.”

Kurt shook his head and continued down the stairs. “The two of you go up. I have my sais, I can defend myself.” 

“Well, I have a gun,” Blaine said. 

Kurt almost missed a step. “Since when? Do you even know how to shoot it?” 

He turned to face Blaine at last. Blaine was indeed holding a gun. It was just a regular hand gun, Kurt couldn’t have said much more about it than that it was black and that it didn’t look like it belonged in Blaine’s hands. 

Blaine didn’t answer, instead he walked past him down the stairs and Kurt could only follow. 

“Sam bought it,” he said when they reached the bottom, “he and I picked it up a while back, thought it might come in handy.”

Their building had a small tiny area that could be called a foyer at the bottom of the stairs. There were two doors, one to outside and the other to the ground floor apartment where the owner of the building lived. 

Kurt went directly to the door that led outside, but he only pushed it open enough to peak out. 

“Wait,” Blaine said and grabbed his elbow with his free hand, “just in case.” Then, he pulled Kurt against him and kissed him. 

Kurt kissed back, letting himself take in kissing Blaine for a moment before he pulled back, “that’s not goodbye,” he mumbled and then pushed the door open a bit more. 

He could see the zombies. They weren’t quite in front of the door because none of them were on the sidewalk, but a few feet in front of them on the streets were about four of them and behind them came more and they were all walking in the direction Sam and Elliot had gone. This could have been easily avoided had the boys looked around before just heading in a direction. He cursed Rachel for her soft spot for Sam. They were going to have words about this after everything was through, Kurt would make sure of it. 

“What do we do?” Blaine asked. 

Kurt wasn’t sure. He hadn’t been thinking. His mind had processed simply that Sam and Elliot had no weapons and that they had to be brought back inside. 

“Do you see them?” 

“Maybe if we step out,” Kurt said and he bit down on his lip. 

He pushed the door a little more until it was open enough to let him slip out. None of the zombies paid him any mind. So, they couldn’t smell them or see them, probably. That was good. Maybe if they just waited them out nothing would happen and if they did come close then they had the gun and the swords. He could only hope that Sam and Elliot would be smarter than to try and take them on.

Kurt shuffled forward and Blaine followed. He couldn’t see them, but they couldn’t have gotten too far. He stepped a little further out and there, they were about a block away, standing at the corner of the street looking at the crowd of zombies and doing nothing to get away or hide. In fact, they seemed to be in deep discussion. 

“Idiots,” Kurt murmured, “look at them.” 

“What do you expect them to do?” Blaine asked. 

“I don’t know,” Kurt mumbled, “hide or run or get away.” 

In the moment that they had been looking towards Sam and Elliot neither Kurt or Blaine had been paying attention to the zombies, if they had they would have seen one of them stumbling towards them. 

So, it wasn’t until Kurt heard a gurgle and a moan that he turned. 

The zombie was about his height, wearing a lab coat that at one point must have been white. Now, it was stained brown and down one side – a blood stain – and covered in dirt and other stains. His head hung towards the left, and his arm hung limp. One of his legs appeared broken, dragged behind him as he stumbled on his good one. 

A part of his mouth and cheek was missing, showing bone and his teeth with looked a mixture of browns and blacks. It was his eyes though that scared and disgusted Kurt the most because they were completely covered in white. 

One of his hands came at Kurt, fingers creaking as they tried to grasp. Behind Kurt, Blaine raised his gun, but Kurt scrambled backwards, pushing Blaine. The zombie kept coming. 

Kurt had known from the moment he saw them that it would come to this. He twirled his sais in his hands so they pointed up and using as much strength as he could he plunged one into the zombie’s chest and the other right through his chin into his head. 

Slashing things like pillows – which had been on accident the first time he used the sais – was one thing, but it could never compare to having the swords in his hands go through actual flesh. 

The pointy edges breaking through a muscle and flesh of an actual person required real strength, because it wasn’t like cutting anything else, and after it was done, they were stuck in the zombie. 

“Kurt,” Blaine whispered behind him. 

Kurt couldn’t pay Blaine any attention. His hands were covered in blood because of course they still bled, and for some reason he couldn’t let go of his sais even though his hands shook.

“Let go,” Blaine whispered, “let them go.” 

The body dropped and there were others coming towards them, somehow knowing that he and Blaine were standing in that corner. It was that, which made him move, kneeling next to the body on the ground, Kurt used all his strength to pull out his swords. 

The next one was easy. Kurt didn’t even think about it before he was stabbing the girl through the eye. He cringed afterwards, hating the sight of the bodies. He didn’t have much more time to think before he had to kill one more. 

Afterwards, Blaine grabbed his bloody hand and Kurt dropped the sais. He refused to cry, but he couldn’t look at Blaine. 

\- - -

“I didn’t bring the gun,” Sam muttered, “why didn’t I bring the gun.” 

“What gun?” 

Sam had forgotten it was supposed to be a secret, not that it mattered anymore. 

“I thought it might be a good idea. I took Blaine out to get one before things got crazy. Figures I left it behind.”

The zombies were approaching quick, but there was a danger in running from them as well as staying behind. They couldn’t know what else they might find while trying to get around the block so they could make it back to the loft, and running might actually alert the ones headed their way to their presence. It was one thing to know how zombies reacted in movies, than to know what it would be like in real life. 

“What we need is a distraction,” Elliot said. He ran one hand through his hair, “a noise or something to attract them elsewhere.”

Sam nodded. “Yes, so we can get back to the loft. But what?”

“Wait,” Elliot said, “what’s – is that Kurt?” 

It was Kurt, and right behind him was Blaine and Kurt was plunging what looked like a sword into one of the zombie’s head. 

“Yes,” Sam said.

“I didn’t know Kurt had swords,” Elliot said, “damn useful though. Okay, what are we going to do?” 

If Kurt could kill zombies – granted he had swords – then they couldn’t be too hard to keep at bay. He took off his backpack. 

“We just have to make it over there. We walk slowly and try not to make too much noise. As long as they don’t bite us we’re good, so we can swing our backpacks at them or something. They’re not very strong.” 

Elliot nodded. He took a look around but there wasn’t anything dropped around them that could help. He followed Sam’s example and took of his own backpack. 

They started walking slowly, sure to not make any noise. Right outside the loft, Kurt had killed two more. He and Blaine were looking around but no other zombies approached them. 

Most of the zombies were focused on walking forward, so Sam and Elliot walked a few feet without being bothered, but then one of the zombies fell onto the sidewalk. Sam and Elliot came to a stop. If they had had anything to kill him with, walking around him would have been easy. As it was, the zombie had lifted his arms and was trying to reach out as if he was trying to find something to pull himself up by. 

He seemed to snarl, making guttural sounds that came out like grunts. His feet kicked out, and he tried to roll over. 

Another tripped over the moving feet and he continued on, crawling. 

Once, back before all of this had become reality, Sam had been sure that he would be able to handle a zombie apocalypse. He would be the guy that had a gun or some other weapon and knew just how to kill them, he couldn’t believe that he’d forgotten to grab something – anything to fend them off with. 

“What do we do?” Elliot asked. 

The zombie was spread out over the sidewalk, there was no way around him unless they walked out onto the street and all the others were on the street and bound to notice them, then. They could risk stepping over him, but what if he grabbed them and made enough noise for the others to descend?

\- - -

“Okay, look,” Blaine said, “they’re coming this way.”

Kurt looked up and sure enough Sam and Elliot were making their way towards them. They walked close to the wall and didn’t seem to be attracting any attention. 

“Sorry I got your hand covered in blood,” Kurt mumbled. He knelt down to wipe his hands on the lab coat of the first zombie he’d killed and grabbed the dropped sais. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Blaine muttered. He grabbed the gun back from his pocket. 

“Oh, put that away,” Kurt said, “I’m not letting you use it, not unless we have to. It’s too much noise and I think they can hear.” 

They watched Sam and Elliot, and Kurt occasionally turned to make sure no other zombies were coming upon them unexpectedly. One of them for a moment looked like he was headed towards them, but instead he bumped into a pole and kept trying to walk against it. 

These were the imitations of humans, unable to think or talk, or even really see. Harmless they were not. 

When the zombie fell in Sam and Elliot’s way, Kurt groaned, and a moment later he was knocked into by one of the zombies. He snarled and grabbed at Kurt with surprising strength and Kurt was pushed into the wall. 

It was a reminder of all those times that someone had pushed him into lockers at McKinley. Almost an exact replica of the jocks that just made a face at him and called him names as they walked away. Kurt tried to scramble free, but the zombie just kept pushing in and drool was coming out of his mouth, going down his chin as he kept trying to get his face close to Kurt’s. 

Blaine shoved him off Kurt, and the zombie fell against another and the two of them turned towards them. 

Kurt extended one of his swords at Blaine. 

“Can you handle it?” 

“I can try.” 

Kurt took the initiative. Instead of waiting, he stepped forward. Blaine stayed put behind him, and Kurt waited a moment, trying to access how he could stab the one that had come at him. 

He went to his side, moving quick, and aimed for his ear. He missed, when he zombie turned, but the sais slashed a cut across the zombie’s cheek and one of his hands tried to grab onto Kurt, fingers only slipping on his shirt at his side as Kurt dropped the sais onto his other hand. He stabbed at the neck and the zombie didn’t even seem to feel it, but the hand that had grabbed his arm let go, leaving only a scratch behind. 

Blaine was having better luck. His had tripped face first and Blaine just had to come behind him and stab at his head. 

Kurt was holding onto his sword, but it was harder to get it out of the zombie while it was still moving and trying to get at him, but then he did it and it and at the same time got the sword into the head. As the zombie fell back, Kurt pulled out his sword. He stepped back leaned into the building. They had moved away from the loft’s entrance, but most of the zombies had already passed them by. 

“Come on,” Blaine said. 

He looked shaken, but his voice was urging. Sam and Elliot weren’t too far. Kurt nodded and he moved over the corpses. 

As long as the rest of the zombie crowd didn’t notice Sam and Elliot, then they could get over there, kill the one on the ground and they could all walk back in one piece. Of course, things never turned out the way they wanted them to. 

\- - -

“We can walk over him,” Sam said, “come on, just stay away from his hands.” 

Sam wasn’t sure if his plan would work, but he wanted it to and he needed for it to work because the only other option was waiting until all the other zombies were gone and they were ambling around and two had already come too close to them before walking away. 

“I’ll even go first,” Sam said when he saw that Elliot didn’t look like he would be ready to try and step over the zombie. 

Sam took a deep breath and he waited until the hands were reaching towards the side to lift his leg over. He set it down on the other side, not breathing as he lifted the other, but the zombie must have realized that there was someone over him, because his hands reached for Sam’s legs and he pulled himself up all while pulling Sam down. 

It all felt like it was going in slow motion. His back hit the concrete and then the added weight of the zombie was on him. 

Elliot kicked at the zombie, trying to get him off, and Sam tried to scramble away, but it seemed that he was holding on hard, and it was only being kicked and Sam’s jolting that kept him from getting his mouth near enough to bite him. 

“Ah, come on!” Sam shouted. 

Elliot kicked the zombie straight on the face, but nothing made him let go. Sam scrambled backwards, but it only served to move him and the zombie.

When he looked back up, one of the stragglers was stumbling in their directions. 

“Elliot,” he mumbled, “look out.” 

Elliot was grabbed by the shoulders, but he shook off the zombie, and afterwards he turned and he pushed him back hard. He fell to the ground, but was scrambling to get back up. 

Sam pushed the zombie away by the forehead, keeping his mouth away from his stomach, but no amount of kicking out his legs could knock off his hold. 

Elliot for his part was trying to keep the other zombie down by keeping a foot on his neck. Had they had some form of weapon they might have been able to get away, but there was nothing. 

Sam could hear Kurt and Blaine coming they way, and when he tried to look they weren’t too far. 

“Argh!” 

Elliot fell away from the zombie he’d been holding down when another wrapped arms around his torso. He tried to wrestle out of the hold, but the other one had stood and was approaching from the front. 

Sam gasped in horror. Elliot was going to be bitten. He was going to die. 

The zombie’s mouth was coming down on Elliot’s shoulder. 

The sound of a shot rang out through the silence.


	4. The Aftermath

Elliott didn’t see his life flash before his eyes when he thought the zombie was going to bite him. He was trying to buck him off, but it had a strong hold for being dead. He didn’t understand how they had been so stupid. Leaving the apartment without any kind of weapon, then sticking around after they finally saw them coming for them, and hell even letting Sam tell him they could step over the one that fell in their path. Now, he was going to die and he would turn into one of them. 

Then, the zombie slumped on his back and one shake and Elliott had him off his back. It was only afterwards that he realized someone had shot the thing right through the head. 

Sam had mentioned a gun and it was probable that Kurt and Blaine had it, but there was no way either of them had that kind of aim. 

He didn’t have time to think about it. The other one was trying to grab at him again. Elliott kicked him down and pressed his heel on its throat. Behind him, he could hear Sam still struggling, but then he heard a grunt and when he turned, the zombie was on top of Sam and Kurt was pulling one of his swords from its skull. 

“Little help over here, Kurt,” he called.

It was strange and not a little surprising to see Kurt – dainty, can’t even handle getting a ketchup stain on his clothes Kurt – actually stabbing zombies and covered in blood and what looked like a little bit of guts. 

He walked towards Elliott and knelt, stabbing it right through the forehead. He pulled the sword back out in a fluid motion. 

Some of the zombies were returning, attracted to the sound of the shot, and when Elliott stepped back from the dead body, he had to ask. 

“Did you shoot that one?” 

“No,” Kurt said, “we have a gun but no.”

“Then who?” 

“There’s no time for that,” Blaine pointed out, “we should get back inside before they start coming for us again.” 

Elliott was more than ready to get back inside the loft, so he followed Blaine quickly and they all made it inside. Once the door had been locked, they all seemed to relax and realize what they had just been through. 

Kurt had collapsed against Blaine, and his swords dirty with drying blood had been dropped unceremoniously on the ground. Sam sank to the floor. His face was streaked with blood, and his clothes covered in dirt but more than anything he looked lost. 

“Sweetheart, we should head back up. We’ll take a shower and—”

Elliott watched Blaine as he held Kurt up and he wasn’t fully surprised to see Kurt just shut down. He’d probably killed more of the zombies than any of them. He certainly looked dirty enough. His hands were still stained red and specks of it had gotten all over his face, neck, and arms. His clothes were ruined and not even Kurt’s magical stain removing abilities would salvage them. Elliott had to hope that at least his sanity would be salvaged. 

“Come on, Sam,” Elliott motioned for him to get up, “let’s put something against these doors and then go back up again.” 

The loft was not really an apartment building, but the guy that owned it rented the three floors it was made up of without a concern to what the space would be used for. The one floor had been empty long before the zombie thing began and the occupants of the other had left sometime before the barricades in the city were set up. It wouldn’t bother anyone if they put something against the doors. 

Before they started up the stairs he picked up Kurt’s swords and then they walked up the stairs. Noise greeted them as they reached the open door, followed by Rachel, then Dani, and finally Santana throwing themselves at both of them in turn. 

Kurt and Blaine were nowhere to be seen, but Artie had finally made an appearance. 

“A man takes a nap and wakes up to half his friends out on the street with zombies,” he said, “I’m glad you’re all alright.”

“We were trying to see,” Rachel said, “but we couldn’t spot any of you. We heard that shot though and – we were so scared.”

“Did you see who shot?” Elliott asked.

Rachel shook her head. 

“I thought it was Blaine,” Dani said, “he had that gun.”

It was sitting on the kitchen table. Elliott decided it was the perfect place to put the swords too. 

“Well he didn’t use it,” Sam said, “whoever did, they saved Elliott’s life.” 

Sam walked past them to the kitchen sink and he began to splash water on his face and the red streaks began to disappear. 

Elliott didn’t think he looked as bad as the others, but a shower would definitely be welcome after the ordeal they’d gone through. He walked to the window and stuck his head out to look below. There were still a lot out there and just as predicted the gunshot had brought them all back. There wouldn’t be leaving the building for a while not that any of them would want to. 

\- - -

Outside across the street, a thin blond woman pulled back curtains. She sighed and pressed her head against the cool glass. 

“We’re not getting over there,” she said, “not until morning if they leave.”

“Well, we’re closer than when we started, Quinn, what’s a few more days.” 

She sighed. A few more days might mean a surprise attack or getting so hungry or thirsty that they would have to brave the throng. She looked over at Mike who had calmly sat down against a wall. Beside him was Tina and as was expected she was crying. It was all she did and it was driving Quinn up a wall. 

When everything began Quinn had found herself holed up at Yale in her dorm. She heard from Rachel and from Kurt and from her mother. Once from Puck who was checking on her. He didn’t say much, but she knew he was out there trying to do his job and help. Everyone involved in the military or government was. 

Then, they started appearing across campus and that was when things got difficult. Someone said a girl with diabetes died because she couldn’t get her medication. She bit her roommate and like a chain reaction the rest of their building was taken over and it began spreading. Quinn, her roommate, and her roommate’s boyfriend made a run for it getting out on sheer luck by stealing a car. 

A week later they were in an abandoned house trying to get through it. That’s when her phone rang and using the last of her battery she managed to talk to Tina. 

She had left Rhode Island and Brown because things were horrible and she was hoping Quinn was still at Yale. Quinn directed her to where she was and somehow when she turned up it was with Mike in tow. 

They heard the announcements about getting to the big cities and Tina spoke to Rachel who said she, Kurt, Santana, and Blaine were all still alright and that New York didn’t look like it had gotten overrun yet. Maybe there was extra protection there or something, but they were all at the loft. 

“We should go there,” Tina argued, “we’ll be with our friends and maybe it’s not as bad there.”

Quinn hadn’t thought it a good idea, but somehow – and Quinn suspected it to do with sexual favors – Tina convinced Mike that they had to go. So, they walked into town and they raided the police station, grabbing a few guns and amo. Quinn refused to go unless they all knew how to protect themselves and lucky for them, Brad, her roommate’s boyfriend hunted in his spare time. 

He taught them how to shoot and how to properly keep their guns, and then they were on their way, leaving Brad and the roommate behind. 

They had plenty of practice shooting on their way there and a trip that would have taken only hours somehow took them days. They ran out of gas and had to walk until they could find another car, but it was hard and on top of that there were the walkers. 

Getting into New York was hard, there was still some sort of guard up, but once they made it into the state it was far easier to get into the city. They were let in with open arms and pointed in the direction of shelter. 

For the first night they stopped at one to rest and eat and then they continued on. There didn’t seem to be many zombies in the city. It was the first time Quinn could admit that going with Mike and Tina was a good idea, and then they approached Bushwick. 

They didn’t see the zombies until they were upon them, and then almost missed Kurt, Blaine, Sam, and that guy from the band Kurt had formed. Quinn almost didn’t pull out her gun in time to shoot him. They also almost didn’t make it into the building across the street from the one they were supposed to be in. 

“This is new,” Quinn said pulling back from the window, “those are fresh zombies newly made.”

Mike nodded and he got up, “that’s why they’re so strong.”

They waited through the night, but the zombies didn’t leave. Some scattered sure, but most of them just hung around. 

“It’s going to happen here,” Tina muttered, “it’s already starting.”

Quinn knew she had a point. This was exactly how it happened everywhere. A handful turned and before anyone knew it there were more and more. People were caught unexpectedly, having a false sense of security. 

\- - -

Kurt wanted to sit down in the tub and just let the water roll down his body and wash off everything. He let Blaine keep him standing only because the water that was coming off his body was brown and red and their white tub had gotten dirtier and dirtier as the water rolled off of them. 

The two of them hadn’t spoken a word since Blaine helped Kurt out of his clothes and it gave Kurt time to think. 

He thought about the people that must have filled the bodies of the zombies he killed, of how they had once had a life full of friends and family and hobbies and likes and dislikes. He thought about how hard it was to kill and yet how easy it had become when the prospect of not stabbing was becoming one of them. 

Kurt had made a promise he intended to keep. He would not become one of them. He wouldn’t let Blaine become one of them. 

He leaned his head against Blaine’s, nuzzling him. It had been easy. There had been a thrill there underneath all the disgust at the blood and gore of it all. It had disappeared the moment they were back inside and Kurt felt guilty to think about the adrenaline that had run through his body when he stabbed the first one once through the abdomen and then through the head, or how he’d been more than happy to rid them of the one on top of Sam or the one that Elliott was stepping on. 

“It was hot,” Blaine mumbled, “this is going to sound weird, but it was hot watching you. Scary and crazy and oh my god we almost died, but aside from that just hot. You and those swords. Fuck.”

Kurt pulled back, regarding Blaine for a moment. 

“You think I’m crazy,” Blaine said at once, “that I thought – we don’t have to talk about it again, I just—”

Kurt kissed him hard partly to shut him up and partly because there was nothing else he could do. He kissed away from his lips on his jaw, trailing them to his neck and Blaine groaned, throwing his head back. 

“You, protecting me,” Blaine said, “getting rid of them – fuck, you don’t even know—”

Their lips met again and it was hard and messy and Kurt was pressing himself closer, letting his hard on speak for how turned on he was. Blaine groaned into his mouth and then he was kissing Kurt’s neck and going lower and lower until he was kneeling in the tub, looking up at Kurt with that fake innocent smile that could have made Kurt cum right then and there, but he held out because soon Blaine was handling his cock and his lips were wrapping around the head. 

“Oh, Blaine, please – please, sweetheart—”

Kurt had to lean against the wall as Blaine’s mouth took more of him in and he groaned, one hand down in Blaine’s hair urging him to take more and another pulling at their shower curtain.

Blaine made a chocking noise but he kept going until—

“Blaine – I’m – god, feels so, guh—”

He spilled into Blaine’s mouth and Blaine just swallowed, cum dribbling down his chin.

Then, he was standing again and kissing Kurt, the taste of himself tangy and very present but not unwelcome. He was fisting his own cock, but Kurt took over, pulling just like Blaine liked and adding a little twist because that made Blaine gasp and make just the perfect little noises. 

His face was buried in Kurt’s neck and when he came all over Kurt’s hand he just slumped further. 

“Come on, let’s wash this off and then cuddles.”

“Hmm, kay,” Blaine said, but he stayed pressed against Kurt, but Kurt didn’t mind. 

He swayed on the spot, patting Blaine’s back. 

“I love you so damn much. Wouldn’t have let anything happen to you.”

“Hmm, my ninja,” Blaine said.

Kurt laughed. “Now we really have to get out of this shower.”

He turned off the water and Blaine finally moved away, stepping out of the tub and grabbing a towel. He wrapped it around Kurt and then grabbed one for himself. 

\- - -

The crowd had diminished a little. Quinn looked at Mike. “What do you think?” 

“We could probably make it over there,” he said.

It was late, darker than Quinn would have liked, but more might turn up in the morning and she knew between her and Mike that they could get across the street, and Tina had been getting better at using her knife too.

“Okay,” Quinn said. 

“Wait,” Tina said, “is it a good idea? What if they sneak up on us in the dark? You’re not going to use your gun, are you?” 

It was dangerous using a gun. Quinn had become a good shot, sure, but there was only so much amo left after their trip and on top of that the noise from a gunshot would be counterproductive.

“We have knives for a reason,” Quinn pointed out, “now come on.” 

Tina didn’t say anything. She followed after Quinn and Mike came out after them. Quinn pulled the knife she kept strapped to her leg and she saw Mike and Tina do the same. 

The zombies didn’t even pay them any mind at first. They were too busy pushing into walls, walking away from the area, or walking into each other. It took them a little while to realize that the three of them weren’t like them, and that’s when they came at them, growling and moaning. 

Quinn wasn’t as good with the knife, but the first one that came at her she managed to stab. It fell on her while she tried to pull out her knife. Mike had already gotten rid of a few more, using his dancing to dart around them as he went. Tina was more cautious, only killing when they came at her. 

The others had noticed them, and they were stepping away from the door of the building and coming towards them and for a moment Quinn feared that there were too many. She stabbed left and right, having to hold onto her knife hard so as to not lose it. Mike and Tina were doing the same, and only once did she see Tina falter. 

Quinn herself was tempted time and time again to just pull out her gun. She couldn’t though, not if they planned to survive. 

She tried to remind herself that they had been through much worse. They had managed that and they would manage this. 

“We’re not really moving forward!” Tina shouted, “they’re pushing us back.”

It was true. The zombies just kept coming and they hadn’t moved forward much, instead they kept having to step back. Quinn bit down on her lip and pushed one away. It fell to the floor and she heard a crack of a bone breaking. 

“We have to go around them,” she shouted back. 

There were less towards the sides and although that would change once Quinn, Tina, and Mike moved there it would make it easier to get farther across the street. 

It was hard to get away from them, but they had a moment to just try and run. Quinn killed two as they began to go around them, and then they were turning their way, but they just kept going. 

Tina tended to raise her arms up over her head while holding the knife and then she would just stab down on their heads, grunting as she did. She was doing just that as they neared the door. Mike kicked at one coming at her back and pulled at her arm. Quinn saw them get to the door. 

She fought past a few more and just as she was stepping onto the sidewalk, one of them tackled her down. 

“Ahhh! Get off!” 

They were all coming at her. This might be the end. 

Tina tackled the zombie on top of her, killing it in one swept move. Mike held the rest at bay. 

“Thank you,” Quinn breathed. 

Tina just helped her up and while Mike kept killing, They made it back to the door just feet away. 

Quinn tried to open it, pushing with all her weight but of course it was locked. This really might be the end for them. 

\- - -

“We should call your dad,” Blaine said, “he’d want to know what’s happening.”

Kurt sighed and nodded. They had stayed in their room, cuddling in bed after their shower and luckily none of the others had bothered them probably because of Elliott who Kurt had heard mention to Rachel that they all could use some space. 

Kurt didn’t think he was ready to face the others. It felt strange knowing he’d killed to just fall into conversation with Rachel or Dani or even Artie. How could he act normal after everything that happened? How could any of them? 

After all, neither Santana or Rachel had tried to even help them. They could have all died out there and those two had sat by a window looking at the zombies. Kurt couldn’t exactly blame them. It was scary and they probably wouldn’t have been much help anyway, but they had done nothing.

“What are you thinking about?” Blaine asked. 

Kurt lifted his head so he could look at him, “this changes everything doesn’t it?” he asked, “it’s not this possibility, it’s not just knowing they’re out there, but knowing. Knowing what it’s like for them to chase you and grab at you and just the only thing you can do is kill them.”

“Yeah,” Blaine said, “but at least we know what we’re facing and that we can protect ourselves.”

Kurt let his head fall back down onto Blaine’s shoulder. “I have to teach you how to use those swords better,” Kurt mumbled, “and we need more weapons.”

“Let’s not talk about that just now. I just want to be happy that we’re both here.”

Kurt laughed, “or maybe about how hot you thought it was.”

“You, sir, are hot in any instance, and when you’re acting like a ferocious ninja with sword skills that’s just a plus. Not to mention you liked it. You liked that rush.”

“I did,” Kurt admitted in a small voice, “it’s weird but I did. I know I could do it again too.”

Blaine leaned over and kissed his cheek, “no one would judge you for it. They’re not human anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing this chapter. It was hard to figure out what I wanted to do with it simply because I did have the thought to kill Elliott, but I just love his character so much that I couldn't. But then, I really didn't think Blaine had the skills to shoot a gun that well and I always planned on bringing in a few more characters so then this happened and I liked it. Plus shower sex, that was fun to write too.


	5. Old Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took some time because I was so busy and a bit unsure as to how I wanted to continue and I'm still not too happy with this chapter. At any rate, enjoy.

“Is your phone working?” Mike asked. 

It was a stupid question. His had broken while they were fighting zombies back before they had even reached New York, and he knew Quinn had run out of battery. 

Tina pulled out hers, but it wouldn’t even turn on. 

“Do they have a doorbell?” Tina asked. 

“Well check,” Quinn said. She had turned and was trying to keep the zombies at bay with her knife, slashing out at them if they got too close, but not killing. Her other hand was wrapped around her gun, ready to use it if there was no other option.

There was a doorbell, Mike pressed it and pressed it again and again. He kept kicking at the door, trying to get it to open. 

Tina had turned to help Quinn and they were both just keeping the zombies from moving any closer. Mike kept pressing the doorbell. They couldn’t hear any ringing, but hopefully their friends inside were. 

Quinn had to kill one when it came too close and another tripped over the body. She killed that one too. 

They hadn’t thought about the door being locked and not having a way to contact them. Granted, they hadn’t thought that there would be zombies just wandering outside in their neighborhood either. 

Mike began to knock hard, his fist raising and hitting the doors. They hadn’t come this far to die like this. 

\- - -

“Is that knocking?”

Santana rolled her eyes. “It’s those pretty ponies in there having a grand old time.” She motioned towards the curtains that enclosed Kurt and Blaine’s room. 

“As much as I don’t want those kind of visuals in my head,” Dani said, “I don’t think it’s coming from in there.”

Elliott who had taken charge of preparing them dinner stopped stirring his sauce and looked over at the group sans Kurt and Blaine congregated around the television. Someone had popped in a movie but no one seemed to be paying any mind to it. 

“Turn that off,” Rachel hissed at Santana, “I hear something.” 

They were all silent. And there it was, knocking. She was right. 

Sam got up at once, “come on, let’s check it out.” 

Elliott stirred his sauce some more. He saw Sam pick up the gun and stash it in a pocket. He grabbed Kurt’s swords as well. 

“Just in case,” he said as he passed one of the swords to Dani who had gotten up with him. 

Rachel and Artie stayed behind, but Sam, Dani, and Santana headed down the stairs. He listened for the footsteps as long as he could and then turned back to check on the water he’d put to warm up for the spaghetti. It was almost ready. 

“That sauce smells good,” Artie said. 

“Thanks, man, what do you think is happening down there?” 

“No idea,” Artie said, “probably nothing good. Need any help?” 

Elliott shook his head. “Simple dinner tonight, we could use the carbs, but I don’t think any of us is actually going to be hungry.”

At that moment they heard voices from the hall and Artie began to smile. He didn’t say anything before he rolled himself out onto the hall. There were unfamiliar voices mixed in with those of his friends and when they all walked back in, Elliott recognized them from some of the pictures he’d seen around the loft and in albums that Rachel had gone through with him one afternoon. 

“Guys this is Elliott,” Rachel said, “he’s in Pamela Lansbury with us.”

He shook their hands as each was introduced to him. 

“It’s good to see you in one piece,” Mike said, “it would have been a shame to have made all that noise if you didn’t end up alright.”

“You saved me?” Elliott asked at once. 

“That is awesome,” Sam said, “we were wondering – who’s the good shot?” 

“Quinn,” Tina said, “she’s awesome at it.”

Quinn smiled a little. “It really was nothing,” she said. 

“Well, thank you nonetheless. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”

Rachel offered everyone drinks and after some consensus she was opening a bottle of wine. Sam helped them put their gear down and showed Tina to the bathroom. 

Afterwards, they were all sitting on Kurt’s vintage couches and chairs, making themselves comfortable. 

Elliott returned to finish cooking, so he wasn’t a part of the conversation, but they were all catching up on what had happened in the past day or so. When he finished cooking, he invited them all to get food. 

“Warm food,” Tina moaned, “home cooked.”

“So, I take it you guys haven’t had much luck with food, then?” Sam asked.

Mike sighed as he took a seat at the small kitchen table. “It’s been hard out there,” he settled on. 

“I’ll go see if Kurt and Blaine want anything,” Elliott said. 

He opened the curtain cautiously. Both boys were in bed, under their covers. Blaine was asleep, curled up into Kurt, but Kurt was wide awake, and he lifted his head to look at Elliott.

“Dinner is ready,” he said, “and if you didn’t hear your friends Quinn, Mike, and Tina are here. They’re the ones that saved me.”

“I heard them,” Kurt whispered, “we’ll be right out.”

Elliott made to turn away, but he paused and stepped in further instead, “are you guys okay?”

“Yeah,” Kurt said, “we are, it’s just seeing that – doing what we did, it’s different. I feel different.”

\- - - 

Blaine woke up slowly, hearing Kurt’s voice saying his name and kisses being peppered on his face. 

“Hmm, Kurt, what?”

Kurt chuckled, “honey, we have to go get something to eat. Also, we have a few guests. Come, on, wake up.”

Blaine blinked his eyes open. His face was still nuzzled into Kurt’s bare chest, and he wanted nothing more than to stay in that spot. He wanted to burrow himself as close as possible and just fall right back into slumber. He kissed Kurt’s collar.

“Want to stay here,” he said.

“I know, but there’s a lot that we need to talk about.”

“Like what?”

Kurt shifted a little, “like what happened outside earlier, like what we’re going to do now that they’re out there. It would be easy to stay here and just keep doing what we’ve been doing for the past few months, but Elliott and Sam were right. We’re going to run out of food soon enough.”

Blaine peeled himself away from Kurt slowly, sitting up, “you said we had guests?” He asked.

“Yeah, Quinn, Tina, and Mike showed up. Come on, I haven’t seen them yet.”

Blaine got out of the bed and shivered. He was only in his underwear because he’d been too lazy to get into other clothes, but he slipped on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, not even caring that it wasn’t what he would usually wear or that his hair was a floppy curly mess. When he turned back to Kurt it was to find him already dressed and waiting for him. 

Out of their room was a bit chaotic. Artie, Quinn, and Santana were seated with Dani on the sofa all talking over each other. Even Dani was getting a few words in and she seemed to be getting on well enough with Quinn. 

Over at the table by the kitchen area was Mike, Tina, Elliott, Sam, and Rachel. There weren’t enough chairs for them, so Sam was sitting up on the counter and Elliott was putting food on plates. 

“Blainey-days!”

Tina was up out of her seat and hugging Blaine tightly. It was a familiar hug and one he hadn’t had in months. They had spoken a lot on the phone back before the zombies began to appear and afterwards only sporadically until he didn’t hear from Tina again. He hadn’t given it much thought, worried about his parents and Burt and Carole, and even wondering how Cooper was doing. 

Tina hugged Kurt next. 

Everyone was catching up. They moved over by the others, bringing the chairs or dropping to the floor and they all listened as Quinn, Tina, and Mike spoke about their trip to New York and everything that had happened since they left Connecticut. 

“It’s hard out there,” Quinn said, “they’re getting everywhere. It starts off with just one. Maybe an old person dies, or someone has something already and they just either kill or eat you and it just spreads so quickly.”

Mike nodded along, “it’s happening here too,” he said, “we didn’t encounter any of those walkers until we got to Bushwick.”

Blaine frowned. They’d known in a way how it worked, but they hadn’t thought it would spread so quickly. 

“I give it a week,” Quinn said, “this city will be overrun with them and no one will see it coming. Those with weapons might survive—”

They were running low on supplies. Before the day they’d had Blaine wouldn’t have thought much of their dwindling supplies. After all, none of the emergency radio broadcasts had said anything about seeing any zombies in the city and Burt who kept them in the loop when it came to what he was being told had already mentioned how other states had seen a fair share of them but not New York City. The cities were supposed to be safe. 

“Do we leave, then?” Sam asked, “get out while we can?” 

“And go where?” Elliott asked, “it’s bad everywhere – or it’s going to get bad anyway.”

That was when the arguments started. Blaine for his part stayed silent. He didn’t know what they should do. He watched as Rachel argued with Santana who was claiming they had to leave. Dani joined the fight siding with her girlfriend. 

Sam and Mike were discussing something in low voices and Quinn and Tina were trying to talk to Elliott. Kurt for his part had tried to put in his two cents with Rachel, but since they weren’t listening he turned to look for Blaine. 

“What do you think?” he asked. 

Blaine sighed. “I don’t know,” he admitted, “where would we go? Back home? Your dad says it’s worse there. The big cities are all full of people and they’re all going to get like this at this point it is inevitable. But, we will run out of food and the power will get turned off at some point. So, the question is do we go out a get supplies from time to time risking our lives to do so, or do we gather everything we have and get out of this city and find more supplies and just stay on the move even if it means encountering them from time to time.”

Blaine didn’t realize that everyone else had stopped talking to listen to him, until he noticed that no one else was speaking. 

“So, it’s a risk either way,” Dani said.

Kurt nodded, “and either way we don’t have much to protect ourselves with or for that matter the training.”

At that a few looked to Quinn. 

“We have two guns,” she said, “but not a whole lot of ammunition left and I wouldn’t waste it to teach you guys to shoot. We have a few knives but they’re not very sharp and you have to use them close up.”

“I have the swords and we have one more gun,” Kurt added, “it isn’t enough. Not to survive out there with. We’re good here.”

Blaine nodded slowly, “for now,” he said.

\- - -

A few weeks later, Kurt found himself in the kitchen looking at their stash. There wasn’t much left. With three more people to feed and nothing to do even rationing hadn’t helped. Rachel came up behind him and she cringed. 

“What’s for dinner?” she asked. 

“Tuna,” Kurt said, “I think there’s still some rice left but not much. I think we’ve reached the point where we need to find some more supplies.”

Rachel nodded slowly, “who will go get them?” 

Kurt shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t want to immediately volunteer to go but he knew he could handle himself out there. Quinn or Mike would also do good even if he hated to be the one to suggest that they go back out there. 

“We can talk about it with the others,” he settled on and began to pull out a few of their remaining cans. 

Tuna may not have been his favorite, but it would do and at least it was simple. 

Living with three more people had been hard adjustment. It meant more noise and far more interruptions. It also meant more fights about the bathroom or what movie to put on. None of it was helped by the fact that no one ever stepped out of the loft. 

Although they hadn’t seen a crowd of zombies again, there were still often stragglers outside. No one could really be sure how many were out there or how far it had spread over the city, but that it had spread was obvious. 

Kurt went about preparing the pot of rice and tried to drown out the noises around the apartment. 

Blaine, Sam, Mike, and Artie were playing some sort of board game that made them shout loudly from time to time. Elliott was somewhere strumming at his guitar and Tina seemed to just enjoy watching him. Dani and Santana were nowhere to be found and Kurt didn’t want to think about what they might be up to. Kurt was sure that Quinn had gone to take a nap in Rachel’s bed but he couldn’t be too sure. 

“I was trying to call my dads,” Rachel said, “but they’re not picking up.”

Kurt pursed his lips. He’d talked to his dad twice since the others arrived but his dad hadn’t had any news though he had sounded more worried than usual. He hadn’t been happy to hear about Kurt actually partaking in killing some zombies. The last time he tried calling it hadn’t been picked up, but usually his dad would return the call. 

“We don’t know what’s happening out there,” Kurt said. 

Later that night after everyone had eaten Rachel herded them all to sit on or around the couch. 

“We’re running out of food,” Kurt said as soon as everyone was seated, “we have what may last about a week.”

“Shit,” Dani said. 

“What are we going to do?”

“Someone has to go out and get more supplies—”

“—left when we had the chance and now—”

They all started to talk at once. Kurt remained silent, watching as Rachel and Quinn argued with Tina and as Dani and Elliott were arguing with Santana. He watched as Blaine and Sam had a quieter discussion and as Mike and Artie half joined in with Quinn and then turned to listen to Dani. Kurt sighed. This wouldn’t be helping matters. They were never going to decide what to do. 

Then, two things happened. His phone began to ring. The lights flickered. Everyone stopped talking. 

Kurt pulled out his phone. His dad. 

“Dad,” he said as soon as he’d answered the phone, not putting it on speaker but walking towards his room instead. He heard Blaine get up and follow. 

“I’ll be back guys,” Blaine said behind him. 

“Hey, bud,” his dad said, “how’s everything?” 

“Not going too well,” Kurt said. 

He had realized rather quickly that it was stupid to lie to his father. Things were serious and dangerous and lying would only make things worse. If he or any of the others died, he wanted his dad to have had warning that things were getting bad.

“What’s happening?” 

“We’re running out of supplies. Quinn, Tina, and Mike showed up which was great but it means feeding three more people and we didn’t have a lot left to begin with and now we probably only have enough for a week more.”

His dad took in a sharp breath. 

Kurt sat down on his bed and Blaine joined him, taking his hand. Kurt smiled a little and put the phone on speaker. The light flickered again. 

“Hi, Burt,” Blaine said at once. 

“Hey there, Anderson,” his dad said. 

“What news do you have?” Kurt asked.

His dad sighed and then after a drawn out moment, “we’re on our own. I don’t know about the whole country, but from all the information we have things are just going downhill. We’ve lost communication with almost everyone. The National Guard, The Marines, all of the border patrols are M.I.A. Either they lost communications or the zombies got to them. We’re barely managing to get word from Washington and it’s all bad news.”

Kurt squeezed Blaine’s hand. 

“What do we do?” he asked. 

“I would love to say stay put, but it looks like we were wrong about the cities, especially after everyone started to head to the bigger ones. I think you should leave. Get weapons, lots of water, and find a couple of cars. Also gas, you might have to funnel it out of other cars but it’s important. You know how to do all of that, Kurt. Go to that shelter and get whatever is left there if you can.”

The lights flickered once more and then they promptly turned off.

“Dad, I don’t know, isn’t it dangerous out there? Where will we go?” 

Outside of their room the others were whispering and back to arguing and Kurt couldn’t imagine all of them in their group making it somehow. 

“I don’t know,” Burt admitted, “I don’t know where you should go. You just have to try and find a place where you’ll be safe but the city won’t be. A smaller town, even out in a park or something will be much safer and I know how you are Kurt, but you have to put all of that behind you now.” 

“I know, dad,” Kurt said in a whisper.

The curtain was opened and Rachel peered in. 

“Um, you better come look.”

She rushed away as soon as she said it. 

“Was that Rachel?” his dad asked. 

“Yeah,” Kurt said. 

“Listen, Kurt, I don’t have a lot of time left. I just wanted to call and make sure you were okay. I know once you leave New York it will be hard to keep in touch and I don’t want you to trouble yourself to do it. Carole and I are good and it looks like we’ll be staying put.”

His dad was quiet for a moment and Kurt looked over at Blaine. 

“I love you, dad,” Kurt said. 

“Love you too, kiddo.” 

He hung up and Kurt took a deep breath. 

“Come on,” Blaine said, “something’s going on.” 

The loft was entirely dark. Someone had lit two candles but they didn’t do much to offer light, but next to them were a few more candles that meant they must have abandoned the task in order to go to the window and out onto the fire escape. 

It was dark out, but fire lit the night. 

“What happened?” Blaine asked. 

“I don’t know,” Quinn said, rubbing her arms, “but it’s spreading and there haven’t been any sirens.”

“It means we have to go, doesn’t it?” Sam asked.

“Looks like,” Elliott said. 

Kurt moved back from the window. It was dizzying to think about how quickly things had just changed and fallen apart. If there was no one to even take care of a fire then there was no one to take care of the bigger issue of zombies. The world as he knew it was over. 

“Kurt?” 

Hell, he’d killed zombies. His hands had been red with blood and he’d felt oddly at ease at killing them. 

“Kurt?” 

Blaine hand was on his shoulder. 

“We have to go,” he said in a whisper and gulped, “we have to go.”


	6. On The Road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the very late update but there are a few reasons for that which is mostly to do with the fact that I finally finished editing my original novel. That and also work and tons of other things I've had going on have really just put a damper on writing fic...but at last I got a chapter written up and I hope you all enjoy it. 
> 
> I don't have any idea when the next chapter will be up as I have way too much going on at the moment.

They were on the road by dawn. The sun was only just rising when they were leaving in Blaine’s car and the car Kurt had dubbed most useful out of the ones they’d found. He himself had hotwired it while Elliott and Sam tried to get as much gas as they could out of the cars they had found in the area. 

The girls had packed their things up. All their remaining food and water along with their few weapons including all of their kitchen knives, the first aid kit, and essentials like clothing and hygienic items. 

It took them hours to get everything ready and they were all exhausted by the time they were setting out. 

It was surprisingly peaceful as they left New York City. It should have felt peaceful to drive through a city that was always so busy with the ease of not having to deal with angry cab drivers or pedestrians that just walked out onto the street. As it was, they were all on edge. The prospect of zombies attacking them was very possible and despite telling everyone else to go to sleep, Kurt knew that they were all alert for any movement on the streets. 

When it had come to choosing where to go, Quinn and Mike had both balked at going back up North. 

“It’s bad,” Quinn had said, “there is no safe place.”

So, when Elliott pointed out that he was from New Jersey and if worse came to worse they could end up at his parent’s house, they made the decision to head in that direction and see where that might take them. 

As they drove out of the city, they saw the broken barricades, and yet there were no bodies. 

“Zombies,” Elliott said, “they’re probably all zombies.”

Kurt let out a breath. 

The highway had a few deserted cars, and some even dead bodies, but no there weren’t enough cars to block their way.

“What happened here?” Dani said.

“Who knows,” Elliott said, “nothing good.”

During their trip to New Jersey to visit a Costco to get supplies, Kurt remembered complaining about how their GPS was just simply incapable of giving them a real estimated time of arrival due to all the traffic. Without it, their trip didn’t take that additional long hour. 

When they got onto the NJ Turnpike, the number of cars blocking their way increased. So much so, that they had to stop. 

“We’ll have to move them,” Blaine said. 

“Come on,” Kurt said and was the first out of the car. Behind them stopped Quinn and the rest of their party. 

“We won’t be getting through here without moving the cars,” Kurt told Rachel and Quinn, “so we’ll stop here for now and start moving some of these cars.”

“And we can go through some of these cars,” Sam said, “we were talking about it earlier. Some of these have to have some food or weapons or anything that could be helpful and we’re in need of everything.” 

It was a good idea, so while Kurt, Blaine, Mike, and Sam started to move the cars out of the way, the girls and Elliott and Artie began looking through a few of the cars, searching through bags and purses. By the time they were done they had quite a collection assembled. 

Plenty of guns had been found, but not a whole lot of ammo. In addition to that Sam found a crossbow but only five arrows to go with it. A few knives were added to their collection including a long dagger.

They found more water – and some food. A couple of first aid kits were added to theirs and in addition to that, Tina made a collection of prescription pills. 

“For if anything happens,” she explained, “there’s bound to be pain meds and maybe antibiotics for infections or anything else we might encounter.”

The crammed everything into the trunks of the two cars and they drove through the path that had been created and then weaved slowly through the cars they hadn’t moved further ahead until once more they had to stop and move more cars out of their way. 

Kurt let the rest of them deal with the cars. He leaned against Blaine’s and watched wondering if they were ever going to get off the highway. 

“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” Rachel asked, “when it first started happening I never imaged it would get to this.”

He hadn’t either.

“Do you think we’ll ever be okay?” 

“I don’t know.”

Kurt pushed off of the car, “come on, let’s go help Tina and Quinn.”

Going through other people’s things was disconcerting. To think about how these people had packed everything after choosing from all of their things only to have those items end up at their hands was a strange thought. 

He hummed a melody to make himself stop thinking about it. He opened a tool box in the trunk of a car. A screw driver and a flashlight lay inside. He grabbed the flashlight but left the screw driver. 

Kurt had just made to move on to another car, when he heard a twig snap and then a gargling like sound. He turned slowly. The zombie was feet away. 

It was hunched over, arms hanging low and feet dragging.

Kurt moved back slowly. Where was everyone else? He’d just seen Tina and Rachel. Santana had been somewhere behind him and Blaine was even further away. 

He walked around the car, trying to keep his eyes on the zombie and scanning for more. 

“Rachel,” he hissed, “Santana.”

“What is it, Ninja gay?” Santana said. 

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Zombie,” he said, “there’s a zombie.”

“Oh, come on,” Santana groaned. 

Kurt reached for his swords and he extended one out to Santana. “Take it,” he hissed. 

Her hands trembled as she grabbed it. 

“Where are the others?” Kurt asked.

“How many are there?” Santana asked. 

“I don’t know. Might be one – can’t be too sure. We need to tell the others.” 

They walked around another car. Kurt could hear Rachel and Quinn. They were laughing and joking and why were they so loud?

“I see them,” Santana said.

“Go, go, tell them to be quiet.”

He kept scanning the road, looking for any movement. Maybe if he could just go and kill the one then everything would be okay. He inched forward. It wasn’t moving in their direction. Instead it seemed to just be stumbling around. Kurt was so focused on watching this one zombie, he didn’t see the others that came behind it. 

\- - -

Blaine helped Sam push the car to the side of the road. It pushed into other cars, but it didn’t matter. He stepped back and brushed his arm over his forehead to wipe the beads of sweat that had gathered there. 

The area they were clearing wasn’t as bad as the area they had been working on earlier. If they had had a bigger car they might have been able to just push through the cars. They really hadn’t had a lot of cars to choose from when they were picking their second car at Bushwick, but on this highway there certainly was and maybe they could find something that wouldn’t have them feeling so crammed. 

“If you find a good bigger car or maybe something just strong like a Jeep it might be a good idea to take it,” he said, “we can fill all of them up with more gas and if we can find some more containers even take some more with us.”

It had been Kurt’s idea when they were getting ready to leave. If they were going to rely on cars then they were going to need gas and one of the easiest way to get it was to take from other cars. He’d taught Blaine and Elliott how to do it, and it wasn’t too difficult.

“Alright, sure,” Sam said.

They kept going. 

They would have to go back soon so they could get the others and keep the cars moving. 

They pushed three more and Blaine kept searching for a car that might work for them. 

“Oh shit,” Elliott said suddenly, “guys, look.”

Sure enough when Blaine looked back, he could see them. Maybe the noise of the cars being moved and crashing into other cars had brought them in their direction, or maybe these zombies had been wondering close by and by pure coincidence walked to where they were. It didn’t matter why, because they were there and there were too many of them. 

“Did the other see them?” Blaine asked.

Kurt had stayed with Rachel and Tina. He took off at a run. Sam tried to stop him, but Blaine needed to know that Kurt would be okay – that they would all be okay. 

He saw Dani first. She hadn’t even noticed the danger. He grabbed her arm.

“They’re here…hide or go the way I came.”

She nodded. 

He walked a little slower, careful to not make too much noise. He almost ran straight into Quinn. She seemed to be aware of the danger. She had her gun out and pointed it at him when he came up to her. 

“There’s too many,” he whispered. 

“I know,” she said, “does everyone know? I was trying to find them first.” 

“I don’t know. Have you seen Kurt?” 

She shook her head. “Damn it.” 

Blaine walked around her and made to continue. 

“Take this, at least,” Quinn said and thrust the dagger into his hand. Blaine nodded and walked even slower, trying to look over the cars to see if he could see Kurt. 

The zombies were on the road, weaving through the cars and moaning as they walked. They were still a ways behind where they had parked their cars, except for a few that were somehow closer. When Blaine finally spotted Kurt, it was to see him stab one right through the eye. 

Kurt was turned away from the other zombies, probably not even yet aware that there were so many headed in his direction. Blaine walked quickly, weaving through the cars.

“Kurt,” he whispered, “Kurt, come on.” 

Kurt barely looked up. 

“Blaine,” he gasped and after grabbing his sais headed in his direction. 

Blaine wanted to hug him and hold him tightly, but they had to move, so he settled and throwing an arm around his waist to lead him away, pushing him forward. 

“What—”

“There’s more,” Blaine whispered, “there’s a whole lot more. I think if we hide they might not notice.”

Santana appeared, then. 

“I told Berry,” she said, “but I couldn’t find Tina.”

Blaine hadn’t seen Tina either. 

They were getting closer. 

“Well we have to hide,” Blaine said, “if they can’t smell us and then don’t see us then hiding is our best option.” 

Santana nodded eagerly and she took a look around. “Under the cars,” she said, “we crawl under the cars.”

Blaine was sure that Sam, Elliott, and Mike had already figured out what they could do. Quinn had probably already been thinking the same thing. So, he and Kurt choose one of the nearest cars and they crawled under it. They just had to wait. 

\- - -

Tina had been looking through the trunk of a SUV. She’d found a collection of interesting novels that she thought might be a good distraction when they found somewhere to settle down. She was reading the back cover of one of them when a scuffing sound behind her made her turn, ready to tell whichever of her companions about the books. 

Her words died in her throat when she realized that it wasn’t any of her friends, but instead two zombies. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed them. Had they others noticed?

She moved away from the car. They were coming straight for her. She turned and slipped between the two cars in the narrow space between them. Where had she left her gun? 

Tina glanced around but she couldn’t see any of her friends. She kept walking, trying to weave through the cars that were too close together, and the just kept coming, and then she tripped. 

Someone had dropped a bag on the floor and in her haste she didn’t see it. Her ankle twisted painfully and when she tried to stand on it, she almost fell again. She got up more gingerly the second time, holding onto the car she was next to until she could stand.

The zombie pulled at her arm and she almost fell again, the jostle of her body enough to dislodge his hand from her arm. Where was her knife? She’d had a knife earlier but where had she put it? 

Her leg throbbed in pain. She cried out and then the zombie was on her, knocking her down to the asphalt. Under the car next to her she saw movement and when she got a better look she met Santana’s eyes. 

“Help,” Tina said, “Santana, help.”

Santana’s eyes widened and she opened and closed her mouth. 

“Please,” Tina whispered. 

She was keeping the zombie away just barely, but it was grabbing at her and Tina was surprised that it hadn’t actually bitten her yet.

Santana had edged closer to her side, but she didn’t come out. 

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I am so sorry.” She pushed Kurt’s sais sword towards her and then turned away. 

The zombie scratched at her neck as it bent its head towards her arm. Tina screamed. 

Just before the zombie could finally bite her, a knife went into its head and it fell on top of her. Others were coming. Sam who had been the one to come to her rescue pushed the body of the zombie off of her, and helped her stand. 

“I can’t walk, my ankle,” Tina said and pointed at the swollen and bruised ankle. 

“Shit,” Sam said and then he was putting his arm under her knees and lifting her into his arms. 

Tina squealed. “Sam,” she whispered loudly, even though her arms had wrapped tightly around his neck. 

It was hard for Sam to carry her and try to maneuver around the cars, especially with Tina, but he was trying to move fast. Tina tried not to look back, but she just kept doing it. The zombies had trouble moving around the cars when it wasn’t a straight path, but they seemed to get over it quickly enough. Sam wasn’t going to be able to move fast enough whilst carrying her if they wanted to get away. 

“Get off the street,” she said, “they look like they’re keeping a straight course.”

Sam nodded. “Okay, yeah.”

They started moving towards the right where the highway was flanked by trees until they weren’t on the street at all. Sam set her down and being as quiet as they could they moved closer to the trees. 

\- - -

Kurt was holding his breath. He and Blaine had heard Tina scream, but Blaine had stopped him before he got out from under the car. 

“We don’t know where she is,” he said, “and if she screamed maybe—”

He let the words hang and Kurt knew that it was very possible Tina was already dead. He would only be endangering himself. So, he’d continued to lay on the dirty ground, and listen as the zombies shuffled around the car they were under. If he turned his face he could see their feet in some cases shoeless.

There was a moment where one stopped next to their car when Kurt thought it was going to bend down and find them, but instead it continued on. It felt like it had been going on for hours. 

They didn’t know how many there were or how spread out, or when they would be gone, and there was nothing they could do to find out. So, he held Blaine’s hand tight, and he held his breath when he knew they were near them, listening for the shuffle movement that they made as they walked and the low gurgling sounds. 

Then one of the zombies fell and his hands were reaching for Kurt as she crawled forward.

Kurt was pulled back by Blaine who was already moving out from under the car. He followed his lead and then they were in the midst of it. The majority of the zombies had already gone past, but a few still remained. 

One was coming towards them and another was to their right. Kurt moved fast, going to the nearer one and swinging his arm at its head. His sword sunk right into its head and he pulled it out swiftly. 

“Come on,” he said to Blaine and he led them in the opposite direction of where the zombies were headed – the same direction they had been going in. 

Kurt killed one more, but mostly they were able to avoid them as they walked. When they reached a spot free of zombies they stopped and there looked back. The zombies were still walking.

“We have to be better at paying attention,” Kurt said, “they came out of nowhere and we didn’t even notice.”

Blaine nodded. “Someone should have been watching out.”

They waited until the zombies had walked past the space that had been cleared of cars, and then they began to call out for the others to come out. Santana was out last and she looked shaken. 

“Is everyone okay?” Kurt asked. 

Rachel shrugged her shoulders, “where are the other boys?” 

“Blaine?” 

“I left them to come look for you,” he admitted, “I don’t know – they said they were going to hide.” 

Kurt nodded. 

“Where’s Tina?” Quinn asked as she brushed dirt off, “it was Tina that screamed.” 

Santana looked away from them. “I don’t know,” she said.


	7. Running Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness. I am so sorry for the very late chapter. However, I have been very busy with working on my own novels, I went on vacation, have had tons of work, and am now back at school. So lots has been going on. I also have to admit that I had slight writer's block until last night when I finally figured it all out. 
> 
> At any rate, I hope you guys are still around and that you enjoy the chapter and hopefully next one won't take so long. 
> 
> Enjoy.   
> -Erika

Sebastian Smythe took a sip of water and capped his bottle of water closed. He walked down the long corridor slowly, and knocked on the door at the end of the hall twice before he put in the key code on the pad. The light blinked and allowed him inside. 

“Mom?”

His mom was standing in front of a laptop. 

“I can’t get it, Bas,” Mrs. Smythe said, “all the information is here right in front of me but I just can’t do it.” 

Sebastian walked to where his mom stood and he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Mom, no one expects you to get this done this fast. You’ve made a lot of progress. Their entire lab exploded. What we have here is not everything that created it.”

Mrs. Smythe nodded. 

The world had gone to hell. Sebastian didn’t even know what to think about everything that had happened over the last few months. How one morning he was sitting in class and his phone went off and the next thing he knew, he was flying back to Ohio and his parents were taking him and his brother through the entire mess. 

“Your mom is one of the few people that might be able to help. This is going to get worse before it gets better. We are taking the two of you to the facility in Washington just in case.”

So, he’d wound up living in the sterile environment of a top notch lab with his parents and brother, waiting for his mom and her team to figure something out. Things had only kept getting worse out in the rest of the world. So much so, that a few people had left to be with family. One hadn’t been able to handle the pressure. They found her in her own bed with pills spilled around her, dead. 

Now, it was just his mom. Sebastian had been trying to help her, but with every wrong outcome she just became more and more discouraged. 

“I’ll try something else,” she said, “I just don’t understand how something so good could make something so bad.”

“There’s good and bad in everything,” Sebastian said, “you taught me that.”

His mom turned to face him. “I did, sweetheart. Now, go on, go see your brother. He’s been getting restless.”

Sebastian kissing his mom’s cheek and he nodded. He walked out of the lab room and back up the hallway. 

Zombies. After all those jokes that people had told for years because for some reason people were obsessed with the apocalypse, it was almost ironic that zombies would be the real reason that they might all die. 

“Seb, I can’t be here any longer,” his brother said when Sebastian found him in one of the lounge rooms.

“Yes, you can,” Sebastian said, “you know what’s out there.”

They had kept their attention on all the news coming from the outside until there were no more news and they were all aware of the problem that had just kept growing. Whole cities had been taken by the walking undead, and any kind of control that humans had, had been obliterated. 

There were no steady news anymore unless they counted the occasional phone call from a government official who was still alive somewhere holding out. 

Sebastian had been surprised when one was Kurt Hummel’s father. As it turned out, though, the man was very much alive and still in Ohio of all places. He had been instrumental in getting his mom the things she needed from the destroyed labs and more involved in the entire mess than Sebastian knew and only because he was a representative from Ohio. 

They hadn’t heard from him in a while. Then again, they hadn’t heard from a lot of people in a while. His dad had said that phone silence would come soon enough. The only phones that worked were the old ones – the ones only people’s grandparents had anymore. 

“I just – we’re in here all comfortable and whatnot and people out there are suffering.”

Sebastian had always wondered who his brother took after, his worry for other people that he didn’t even know had always astounded Sebastian.

“Well we can’t do anything about it, can we? If we go out there we become infected. We can’t bring that back here.”

\- - -

Tina’s scream woke them. 

Kurt was the first sitting up, jostling Blaine’s arm off of his body, looking for the source of the scream in the small room. Tina was crying into her arms in her corner of the room and Mike had shuffled closer to her. 

It was getting out hand. 

He sank back down next to Blaine, who reached for him. 

“We have to move on,” Kurt murmured, “I can’t do this anymore.”

Kurt would have thought that a week after everything had gone down on the highway things would go back to normal but they had no such luck. Instead, things had gotten worse. Tina was afraid of her own shadow, sticking close to either Sam or Mike, and when they weren’t available Blaine. 

They had found an abandoned house, a small ranch style house that was alone at a dead end and far from any big city. The only problem was that the house was tiny and that it had no electricity whatsoever. So, they’d split the two bedrooms and Tina was being rotated from room to room because every night she woke up screaming in the middle of the night. 

“Kurt, she won’t be ready to be back out there,” Blaine said.

Kurt sighed. “Who is?” he mumbled and then moved out of Blaine’s arms and stood up. 

None of what had happened on the highway made sense to Kurt and he’d been thinking about it since it happened. No one had located Tina, or had a chance to warn her, but somehow she had wound up with his sword. She wouldn’t say how she got it. Santana claimed she had dropped it and yet when asked she claimed to not have been near Tina. 

Aside from that, Kurt couldn’t understand why Tina wasn’t handling it like the rest of them. She’d almost died and Kurt understood that, but she had been with Quinn and Mike when they made their way to New York and there was no way she hadn’t faced something similar before. 

“Couldn’t sleep?”

Elliott was sitting at the round dining room table. He looked as tired as Kurt felt.

“Yeah. Tina, you know…”

He nodded. “So what’s the plan now? I thought you wanted to get in touch with your dad again.”

Kurt nodded slowly. It had been a blow for all of them when they realized they couldn’t communicate with anyone anymore. Kurt had expected it, but it was still hard to know that his phone was useless. It wasn’t a lack of charge. They could have easily used the car to charge up their phones. No, the problem was a lack of service. Not even the wi-fi was working anymore. Everything was down and that could only mean that things were getting worse. 

“You’re feeling as cooped up as I am, then?” Kurt asked.

Elliott ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more. “Well, this place is a bit of a dump and we’re all on top of each other here. I’m not saying let’s go and fight zombies, but there has to be something else out there.”

Kurt sighed. “Maybe there is. We don’t know.”

“Better than here,” Elliott said.

Kurt bit down on his lip. “Will it be? I mean, we haven’t seen a zombie up close in a few days.”

He was indecisive, not sure what the right thing to do would be. He knew that Rachel, Santana, Artie, Sam, and even Blaine were happy to stay at the house they’d found, but he just wasn’t sure that it was the right choice. 

“Yes,” Elliott said, “but we also haven’t had much time for ourselves. Let me ask you one thing, are you willing to keep living in close quarters with all of these people for the next few months – hell, years? Will you be happy not having sex with Blaine because, face it, there is no way you’ll get alone time?”

Kurt blushed a little. Elliott made an excellent point. 

“So what do we do?”

“We discuss it. Put it to a vote maybe.”

\- - -

Blaine could tell that Kurt was getting restless. He wasn’t the only one that was getting cooped up. It had only been a week, but if living in the Bushwick apartment with all their friends had begun to get hard, doing it in a house that was not much bigger than the apartment without all the different entertainment options was a nightmare. 

Sleep was hard. Tina screamed once or twice during the night. Food was getting scarce again. Everywhere he went there was someone sitting, eating, talking, or trying to sleep. Blaine couldn’t remember the last time he’d been alone. 

Even the bathroom was not a sanctuary with the limited time they each got in it. 

He wasn’t surprised when Kurt gathered everyone into the living room – arguably the biggest room in the house – and he and Elliott jumped into their plans for the future. 

Arguments broke out across the room. 

“We’re safe here,” Rachel said, “we might have to go get supplies and food every once in a while but we’re good here.”

Dani threw in her two cents, “you’re safe here. The people going out to get food will not be and I know you won’t volunteer. I’m with Kurt and Elliott on this one. We have to move on.”

“Dude, we haven’t seen a walker in how long now?” Sam asked, “the last one was a straggler.”

Kurt scoffed. “We’ve been here a week.”

“Yeah, Hummel, a week,” Santana said, “you just haven’t had any and want to have more time and space to bone curly here.”

Blaine immediately opened his mouth to argue, but Mike put a hand on his shoulder. “Ignore her. Curly.”

Blaine’s hair was a mop of curls and he hated the unruliness of every lock on his head. Kurt had offered to cut his hair reluctantly because for some reason he liked the curls, but after Blaine agreed they’d realized they had no scissors. The lack of hair gel was also not helping. 

“Okay,” Quinn said, “say we go, where are we headed? Kurt, we were headed for a small Jersey town where we could settle. We did that. We’re tired and grouchy and crammed in here like sardines, but where do you want to go?”

“Away,” Kurt muttered.

Blaine reached over to take his hand and Kurt turned his head to smile at him. 

“I’m telling you guys, this is all about the horny gays. You don’t see me complaining,” Santana said and winked at Dani who blushed. 

“You two have no shame,” Rachel said and stood up, “I think we all have to think about this and Kurt you have to figure out where you want to go. I’m going to the kitchen to start lunch.”

After Rachel left everyone just broke off into smaller factions or walked out of the room. Kurt sighed and got up as well. He let go of Blaine’s hand and walked out of the living room to the kitchen and they all heard the door to the backyard open and close.

\- - -

Kurt wrapped a threadbare blanket around his shoulders. He’d been sitting outside since the meeting had ended. Blaine had tried to sit with him, but he’d sent him back inside but accepted the blanket he brought him when it started to get colder. Everyone had come at one point or another to talk to him. Half of them trying to explain why they wanted to stay and the others asking about his plans or making attempts at saying they were with him. 

“Where do I want to go?” Kurt asked himself.

The only answer that came to his mind was, “home”. Home wasn’t Ohio. It wasn’t New York. It wasn’t even Blaine, despite how much Blaine really was, because his dad had been there first. 

It was the end of the world and all that Kurt Hummel wanted was his dad. He regretted not leaving New York right at the start to be with him and couldn’t understand why the others weren’t ready to try and find their parents. 

Blaine came back out right before dinner and when Kurt told him what he’d been thinking about, he sighed deeply. 

“Kurt, my parents are more than likely already dead. They’re probably all dead. None of them want to talk about it because the possibility that they’re still alive is impossible. Kurt, your dad, he got lucky somehow, and you got to talk to him. He also told you not to go back there.”

“I know that. I just – we can’t live like this.”

Blaine grabbed his hands and pulled him up. “I think, the vote thing you and Elliott wanted to do should be brought up.”

After dinner, they gathered in the living room again, and by the light of a very small candle, Kurt asked them to vote. 

He, Elliott, Blaine, Dani, and Mike, all voted to leave. 

“It’s like this,” Artie said, speaking up for the first time, “it won’t matter where we go. It’s all the same. I’m not a big help in this chair. In fact, I can get in the way. Here, we aren’t bothered. We’re fine. And, you have no plan.”

“I want to go back to Ohio,” Kurt said.

Quinn shook her head. “Either way, majority wins.”

“No, what this means is that we have to split up,” Elliott said, “it means that if you want to stay here you can, and if you want to leave you can. No one’s said that we have to stick together.”

Arguments broke out, then, and Kurt was sure that nothing would ever be decided. He knew for certain that they couldn’t just split up. 

None of them noticed Elliott get up or hear the door open and close. None of them noticed he’d left until their arguing finally came to a conclusion and only when they were figuring out where Tina was going to sleep did they realize that Elliott wasn’t with them. 

“Where’s Elliott?” Mike asked. 

“Shit,” Sam said.

“He’s gone,” Rachel said and she closed her eyes tightly, “I think he just took off.”

Kurt was on his feet, rushing towards their weapons at once. 

“What are you doing?” Sam asked.

Kurt turned to glare at him for a second. “What does it look like? I’m going after him.”

Kurt didn’t wait for anyone else to join him. Instead, he threw open the front door and walked out. It was dark out which made it a more dangerous time to be out, but he didn’t care. Kurt was mad at all of his friends with their arguments for staying at the house despite how tired it was making all of them to live in such close quarters. 

He had his swords in his hands and he was headed up the street hoping that Elliott hadn’t gotten too far. He heard footsteps behind him, but he didn’t turn to acknowledge the person that had followed him. 

\- - -

Elliott was tired. He was weary down to the bone, mostly because his entire body was an entire knot of tired muscles. He’d grabbed his bag with his few belongings as well as the bow and arrow that he’d claimed as his own when he found it in one of the abandoned cars on the highway. 

Back in high school he’d actually done archery for gym, and he’d been practicing with it enough that he was sure he would be a good shot. Just in case, he’d also grabbed one of their knives. 

Elliott had been sure that it would come to this, to one of them making a decision and leaving. It was beginning to become a little bit too much. When he’d first met Kurt and his friends, Elliott had been more than happy to make friends with them. They had seemed quirky and fun and Kurt’s band had been such a fit for him. Rachel had been too much to handle at first, but he’d gotten used to her quickly enough. 

Still, even when things were normal, Elliott just hadn’t been prepared to deal with their drama all the time. Living in the conditions they had in New York had been one thing, but that house was just too much of a bother. Elliott wasn’t happy about going off on his own, but he was hoping that he’d be fine. None of them had even come after him. 

When New Jersey was first suggested, Elliott had had some kind of crazy hope that it might mean he might see his family again. He hadn’t said anything to the rest of them, but they had gone past his house and the entire neighborhood had been too quiet. Two zombies had been walking past the sidewalk where Elliott fell off a bike when he was six. It had been enough for him to realize that his family was long gone, or still around but no longer human. 

Alert to every noise, Elliott walked quickly. He needed to get away. He might find somewhere to stay until morning soon, but first he needed to put at least a few blocks between himself and the others. 

\- - -

Blaine cursed. “Who’s coming with me?” 

Sam stood up at once and Dani followed. When Quinn tried to join them Blaine shook his head, “If anything, you will protect the rest of them. The three of us will be fine.”

Quinn nodded. 

Rachel stood up suddenly. “I’ll come too,” she said. 

Blaine didn’t have time to argue.

He could see Kurt ahead of them, even in the dark, and ran to catch up to him. He heard the others follow him. 

“You didn’t have to come,” Kurt said when they caught up to him.

“No, we did,” Rachel said, “Kurt we’re all running on almost no sleep. No one knows what the right thing to do is, but we’re not going to let you just run out here and get yourself killed.”

Kurt didn’t respond to that. They walked in silence for a while, each of them making sure to look around so that nothing might surprise them. When they got to the end of the street, they came to a stop.

“Which way?” Sam asked.

“Right,” Kurt said, “I think he would have gone right. I could be wrong, though.”

Blaine walked to stand next to him. “No, we came from the left. He wouldn’t have gone backwards. Let’s go right.”

They turned and kept walking. The streets were deserted. No zombies. No people. Not even stray animals. 

They kept to the main streets, hoping that Elliott had done the same, and were just starting to give up the search when they heard a scream.

“Is that Elliott?” Sam asked, “doesn’t sound like him.”

Blaine couldn’t be sure. He shared a look with Kurt. 

“Does it matter?” Kurt asked, “that is someone screaming.”

They headed in the direction of the scream, but couldn’t find anyone and then the door to one of the houses was thrown open and a man stumbled out, and behind him came a zombie, grabbing at him. 

Blaine joined Kurt in running towards them hoping that it was just the one zombie and not more than that. Together they shoved it against the wall and Kurt stuck his sais into its head. They let him drop and then turned to the man that had screamed. He was still making noise and clutching at his leg.

Kurt set down his clean sword and wiped the other one in the dirty clothes of the zombie, trying to touch him as little as possible. He set the other sword down and walked over to the man. 

Rachel and Sam had walked closer and the two of them were trying to talk to him, so Kurt stepped away. 

“We have to hurry up,” he said. 

Blaine nodded and he turned back to tell Rachel and Sam that they would go ahead and keep looking for Elliott when he saw the door open again. Behind him, Kurt made a noise. Blaine turned. Three zombies were walking towards them. 

Coming from the house was one more. 

“Zombies,” Blaine was quick to say to Sam and Rachel.

“My sais,” Kurt said and Blaine spotted them. He grabbed them and ran back towards Kurt.

He saw Sam moving away from the man and figured he would deal with the zombie coming out of the house. 

“Come on,” Kurt said, “no use waiting for them.”

With his swords in his hands, Kurt walked forward to meet them and Blaine followed, his own knife in his hands. Kurt was beautiful in his movements, fluid in a way that Blaine had never expected. He had one of them on the floor in minutes, and Blaine was too busy watching him to help, until he saw that the two remaining zombies were going in Kurt’s direction at the same time. At that he moved, stabbing one from the side. Kurt was still dealing with the other one when Rachel screamed. 

Blaine turned. They hadn’t dealt with the zombie, or maybe this was a third one, Blaine didn’t know, but Rachel was on the ground and the zombie was on top of her and she screamed again. 

Blaine ran back, looking for Sam and the other guy, but Sam was stabbing another one. 

Blaine pulled out his gun, but he didn’t know if his aim would be good enough. Rachel and the zombie were moving too much. 

Rachel screamed again. She tried to shove the zombie off but he was much bigger than her. 

Blaine pulled the trigger. He missed, the bullet going into the door behind them. He hadn’t practiced shooting the gun too much and they all agreed that it made too much noise to really use unless necessary. This was one of those moments and he was failing. He dropped the gun and ran towards them. Rachel hadn’t stopped screaming. Behind him he heard Kurt come to stop.

“There’s more,” he said, “more are coming.” 

Sam was already dealing with two more. Blaine knew he had to help Rachel, but when he turned to look behind him he saw that it wasn’t just a couple of them headed their way. They must have heard the gun shot because they were coming from all different directions and Blaine couldn’t even be sure how many there were. 

He finally got to Rachel and he stabbed the zombie and shoved him off, but he was too late. It had bitten her right on the shoulder. There was blood everywhere. 

“Blaine?” Rachel asked.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry.” 

\- - -

Elliott heard Rachel scream. It came right after the other screams from some guy. It was what made him turn and head towards the screams. He was alert as he went, his crossbow ready to go if he encountered any trouble. Then he heard the gun shot and he started walking faster. If he’d heard it this far then any zombie near him would start heading there too. 

He spotted one and shot it, retrieving the arrow from its head before continuing on. He did the same a few more times until he reached the place they were all headed. 

Kurt and Sam were fighting them. Sam had his gun out in one hand and a knife on the other, but Kurt was just using his sais swords. He spotted Blaine joining in one the fight and he started to kill the ones near him. 

There were a lot, but among the four of them they took care of plenty of them. Sweat covered him and he could see that the others were getting tired too. Sam was even on the ground at one point wrestling one until he could stab it through the eye. 

Blaine liked to come on them from the back, but he seemed to know that Kurt was just better at it because more often than not, he was making sure that Kurt wasn’t overwhelmed and Kurt would just go through them as he sent them to him. 

Elliott would never cease to be amazed by the partnership that Kurt and Blaine had. They were so in sync that sometimes Elliott couldn’t see them as just Kurt or just Blaine. 

When the last of them fell, Elliott’s arrow going through his neck and Blaine’s knife pulled out from the back of his head, Elliott saw Blaine motion behind them. Elliott hadn’t looked in that direction when he got there, but when he did he saw Rachel on the ground.

“Rachel,” Kurt said.

“It bit her,” Blaine said.

Sam ran over to her. “No,” he said, “no, I left her for a minute. She said she could handle it.”

For all that Sam was blaming himself, Elliott knew that it all lay on him. He’d left and he should have known they would come after him. Now Rachel was…he couldn’t even think about it.

\- - -

There was a small room that had a window that looked out onto the empty street and Sebastian sat just by the window staring out. He’d read every book the piqued his interest, some more than once, and he was growing bored. 

Back when they’d first gotten there, there had still be people walking around outside, until things started changing and then the numbers dwindled until there was no one. Then, there were the zombies. Sebastian had only ever seen them from this room, looking down at the street where they would sometimes shuffle their way elsewhere. 

People out there were killing them. Sebastian couldn’t imagine being able to do it. He knew he was lucky, being in a place that was safe, but sometimes he wondered what would happen if his mom couldn’t figure out a way to help them all. He pressed his forehead to the glass. 

A knock on the door distracted him. The door opened after the knock.

“Is your brother here?” 

Sebastian shook his head. “No,” he said, “why?”

Mr. Smythe didn’t say anything for a moment, and when he finally spoke it was to say, “we think he left.”

“What?” 

Somehow, he should have seen it coming. Garret had been telling him he felt bored and cooped up for weeks and Sebastian had ignored it, had thought that his brother was smarter than to just take off like that. 

“Are you sure?” he asked. 

His dad nodded. “Someone heard one of the door alarms go off, we thought it was a wiring issue, but then we couldn’t find him. He told your mom last night he was tired of being here.”

Sebastian looked back out towards the window. His little brother was out there somewhere. How could he have been so stupid to just run away because he was getting tired of being in the lab? 

“What are we going to do?” 

Mr. Smythe shook his head. “I don’t know. He’ll be infected if we bring him back and who could go out to find him? We don’t have enough people or a means of going out there.”

Sebastian knew what his dad wasn’t saying because those were all excuses. They were all infected, his mom had said as much just a few weeks before so that wouldn’t be an issue. They just wouldn’t do anything for Garret. They couldn’t because if they did someone else might be hurt and they didn’t even know where he’d gone. Sebastian couldn’t handle that answer. 

“I’ll go,” he said, “I’ll go find him. I’ll take one of the cars.”

“No, Sebastian, I can’t let you do that. I can’t lose both of my sons.”

“We haven’t lost him yet. Garret is out there and someone needs to bring his ass back here and I don’t do anything important here. I can do this.”

His mom appeared, then. “Did you find him?” she asked, “was he with Sebastian.”

Mr. Smythe shook his head. “He’s not here. He left, Clara.”

“But I’m going to look for him.”

His parents started arguing with him again and Sebastian stepped back to look outside. He was scared of what the world had become, but his brother wasn’t going to be out there on his own. 

“I don’t care what either of you say,” he said, “I’m going.”

“Then, you’re going to need a gun,” his dad said.


	8. The Parting of the Ways

Kurt laced his fingers with Blaine’s. It had been a full twenty four hours since they returned to the house and everything had changed. At least, it felt like everything had changed. Looking at the bigger picture, though, nothing had. It was all the same, except that Rachel was no longer a part of their world. 

“So, what’s next?” Blaine asked.

“We leave,” Kurt said and he was more sure than ever that this was the answer. He knew the others wouldn’t see it that way. 

Blaine looked like even he was unsure. “Kurt, I don’t know if it’s the best time to bring that up again.”

It would be touchy, and it would be difficult to get the others to agree to it, but he had to because they couldn’t stay there anymore and he knew that it wouldn’t be long before Elliott decided that he needed to leave again and this time, Kurt knew that he would follow him and leave with him. 

“Then when?” Kurt asked.

“When we’ve mourned. Kurt, no one wants to leave right now,” Blaine said and looked away from Kurt, his gaze sad and when Kurt followed his line of sight he saw that Blaine was staring at Tina and Sam. 

Kurt shook his head. It wasn’t about Tina or Sam. Sam would go, Kurt was sure of it, just as sure as he was that Tina would never be ready to leave unless they pushed her to do it. 

“You don’t want to leave,” he whispered, but he knew that Blaine heard him.

Kurt waited, but Blaine didn’t say anything. It was confirmation enough. 

“You were willing to before,” Kurt said.

Blaine nodded and then he said, “Rachel died, Kurt, and I could have saved her. Next time – I wouldn’t be able to handle if…if it was you next time and I failed to keep you safe.”

“I can keep myself safe,” Kurt said, trying to keep his voice low, despite the anger that thrummed through his statement, “I am more than capable and Rachel, Rachel wasn’t even willing to learn. She wasn’t—”

Blaine was shaking his head and he had pulled his hand out of Kurt’s. “Finish that sentence,” he said.

Kurt knew exactly what he was going to say, that Rachel hadn’t been strong enough. That no one should have let her leave the house. 

“You know what I was going to say,” Kurt said, “she wasn’t prepared. Rachel was my best friend and I loved her, but she wasn’t prepared…”

“But you are,” Blaine finished for him.

Blaine stood up and left Kurt on the futon where they’d been sitting. Kurt let his head fall back. He knew that he and Blaine would make up. In the world they were a part of they didn’t have the means to stay angry with each other. He just needed to give Blaine some space, that’s all. 

Kurt was trying to figure out how he was going to bring up leaving again. He knew already what they would argue and having answers to those arguments wouldn’t be enough, not when he had no destination in mind and no reason for why they should head there. Maybe if he did they would listen. It was too bad he had no way of contacting his dad. 

Kurt didn’t know how long he sat on the futon after Blaine left, trying to figure out how he could possibly get in contact with his dad, but eventually he felt the cushion dip and when he turned his head he found Elliott. 

“Hey,” he said. 

“And what has you so thoughtful?” Elliott asked, “I hope it isn’t guilt or something like that.”

Kurt had felt some guilt for the first few hours after they returned. He thought that they all felt some modicum of guilt about Rachel’s death, but he had been blaming himself for not making sure that she wouldn’t be following him. Being reminded that Rachel was stubborn and that she always made up her own mind had eased him of some of it. He still felt like he was partly to blame. 

“I mean,” Elliott said, “if anyone is to blame it’s me. I basically caused all of this by leaving.”

“But I followed you,” Kurt said, “and that was stupid.”

Elliott shook his head. “It wasn’t. I reacted emotionally. I’ve been so sick of being stuck in this house with the crying and the bathroom that is always occupied and not being able to be alone and I shouldn’t have just taken off like that. You guys are my friends and I wouldn’t let any of you leave like that, I should have known you guys wouldn’t let me do that either.”

Kurt sighed. Sam blamed himself too, for leaving Rachel alone. A part of Kurt had wanted to blame him, to ask him why he had thought that Rachel would be able to take care of herself. 

“I still think we should leave,” Kurt said, “it will be even harder to convince them.”

“You’re right,” Elliott said, “any ideas?”

Kurt began to shake his head, but then he stopped. “Yeah,” he said, sitting up straight, “yeah I have one. I’m going to need your help.”

\- - -

Sebastian hugged his mom and then his dad before he got into the car. None of them said goodbye, but they all knew it was a possibility. Sebastian had enough food for a few weeks if rationed correctly, and enough weapons that he might make it back home. The only question was whether he would make it back to the lab compound with his brother or on his own. 

For the first hour, he drove around the city, hoping that he might find some clue as to where his brother might be. It was stupid of him to hope that his brother might stay in the city, but he wanted to be sure. 

Strangely enough, Sebastian didn’t run into one zombie during his search. Granted, the national guard had been very present right from the start in the capital, and even after they fell their safeguards had remained in place. As long as it hadn’t given Garret a false sense of security, Sebastian was glad that he wasn’t having problems on that front. 

Eventually he drove out to the main ways out of the city, trying to see if any of the barricades had been moved or damaged. 

It was then, that he saw his first zombie. 

It was a woman who must have worked at one of the offices because she was in a pant-suit. It hung loosely on her, ripped in places and matted with mud and dirt. Her hair hung around her face in knots, and her face was rotting flesh. Half her jaw was missing and she made snarling noises. Sebastian watched her from inside the car. 

The woman shuffled forward, not even taking notice of him, and stumbling on things her feet didn’t avoid. Sebastian hadn’t known what he was going to feel when he first saw one in front of him. He was surprised at the feeling of sadness that overwhelmed him. 

He was sad for the life that had been lost, and sad for the people that must have known and cared for her. As he watched her walk off, he wished desperately that this wouldn’t be his fate or that of his brother’s. 

Sebastian found the moved barricade eventually, it was one of the exits onto a freeway and if Sebastian remembered the map he’d looked at correctly, it was one that went up the east coast. His brother could have gone anywhere. 

He drove through, up the ramp and onto the highway. He was amazed firstly by how quiet it was, and secondly by the number of cars that were left there abandoned. But had the cars not been there, he wouldn’t have been able to tell which direction his brother went in. He seemed to be going north. The way south was completely blocked off by cars, but north there were just a few cars here or there. Knowing Garret, he would have taken the easy way. 

It was hard to figure out just what his brother may have wanted. Being bored was one thing, but it didn’t excuse leaving. If Sebastian knew him well enough, his brother had left for a reason. If that was that he needed to get something or see someone, Sebastian didn’t know. He knew what he’d missed while being in the lab. Sex. 

There were only so many times that he could use his hand and feel like it was enough, not to mention that he’d run out of lube and didn’t think his parents would think that lube was a necessity in this world infested with zombies. 

He really missed sex. 

Sebastian shook his head. He needed to find Garret, and maybe stop somewhere to stock up on lube because when else would he have a chance to?

He drove north, hoping that Garret hadn’t gone far. 

\- - - 

They walked for three blocks and looked through close to ten houses but none of them seemed to have what Kurt needed, and Elliott was starting to think that maybe it wasn’t the best idea. He definitely hadn’t been too happy when Kurt told him they needed to sneak out of the house and not tell anyone and he knew that the moment they returned they would have a lot to deal with. 

He followed Kurt as Kurt opened a fence on the yard of a house and he lifted his bow just in case. It was getting darker and night was the most dangerous. They knew there were zombies near them now. 

“Come on, we can go through the back,” Kurt said.

Kurt had both of his sais swords out and he looked alert as he walked up the path towards the house. The door was locked, but it was lucky that Elliott knew how to pick locks because most of the houses they’d approached had had locked doors. 

“If you will,” Kurt said, “you were definitely the person to bring.”

“The only one that would,” Elliott said and he brought out the credit card yet again. It took him a few tries, but then the lock clicked and he turned the doorknob and it opened. 

Elliott walked in first, and they tried to make as little noise as they could just in case. It had happened in two houses that they found zombies. They had been easy enough to get rid of, but it wouldn’t do for them to let their guard down. 

After they made sure the first floor was clear, Elliott followed Kurt from room to room again, looking for a landline. 

As Kurt had explained it earlier, phones generally didn’t run on electricity because they didn’t need much to work. So even though the power was down, they probably were still getting some through the connection. At least, older phones did and it depended on what kind of service the house had. 

“This is it,” Kurt said excitedly, “we found one.” 

He had the phone to his ear and he was grinning, He dropped it back on the receiver and searched his pockets until he pulled out a stained piece of paper that he’d ripped off a notepad earlier. On it was a phone number. 

“I hope this works,” Kurt said. 

Elliott hoped so too. If it didn’t, then the two of them taking off would be for nothing. This had to work. 

Kurt was dialing the number and Elliott moved closer and Kurt motioned him towards him. They both heard the phone ringing. Was that a good thing or bad thing? It rang a few more times and then someone answered. 

“Hello,” a woman’s voice said. 

“Hi,” Kurt said, “hello.”

“Yes, can I help you?” 

“I – my name is Kurt Hummel,” Kurt said, “and I was hoping that I could find my dad there. Burt Hummel.” 

Elliott was holding his breath. The woman didn’t answer right away and he could feel Kurt imagining every bad scenario possible. 

“I’m sorry,” she said at last, “he’s actually not here at the moment. He’s in a meeting. But, I can get you his wife.” 

Kurt breathed out a sigh of relief. “Carole!” he said, “yes, yes, put her on, please.”

Elliott pat Kurt’s back and Kurt shot his a smile. It took a few minutes and then Carole was on the phone. 

“Kurt,” she said, “oh my god, Kurt, I can’t believe…oh, honey, we were so worried.” 

Kurt started to cry. “Carole, I – it’s so good to hear your voice. I miss you and dad so, so much.”

“What happened, Kurt? I can tell something happened. What’s wrong? Is it Blaine, did something happen to Blaine?” 

Kurt was shaking his head, and he was suddenly sobbing and Elliott knew that his stepmother would be listening to it. He took the phone from Kurt. 

“Mrs. Hummel, this is Elliott. I’m giving Kurt a moment. I guess I’ll explain as well. Blaine is fine, but…oh, god, it’s hard to say. Rachel was…well, she’s…she’s dead.”

“No,” Carole said and he could tell that she was crying too. “What – what happened?” 

“She was bitten,” Elliott said, “there was nothing we could do.”

Kurt had calmed down enough that he took the phone back. “I like to think,” he said, “that she’s with Finn and that they’re happy somewhere, wherever we go after we die.”

“Yes,” Carole said, “yes, I think so too. Was this call just to let us know about her?” 

Kurt breathed in. “No,” he said, “we don’t know what to do anymore.” 

Elliott listened to him explain their situation. 

“…and,” Kurt said, “I just, I know we have to keep moving. I don’t think staying here is safe or smart or the thing to do.”

“Kurt, I don’t know what your dad would say, but I think you’re right. And we’re moving too. Your dad is currently meeting about it and I think we’re heading to Washington D.C.”

“Really?” Kurt said and Elliott could see that he was already calculating how they could go in the same direction.

“Yes, it’s all but set up.”

“So, we should go there,” Kurt said at once.

Elliott let Kurt keep talking on the phone and he stepped back, knowing that he didn’t have to listen to the rest and that Kurt might want to have some privacy. Instead, he went to the kitchen and checked all the cupboards. They had checked for food at every house, taking anything with them in a bag that they’d found in one of the first houses. He slipped items that he knew would still be good into the bag and then went in search of anything else that might be useful. 

\- - -

Sebastian pulled over when it was dark and he sighed. There was no sign of him. More zombies had appeared and he’d actually had to run one over which had left him shaking afterwards, but still Garret was nowhere to be found. 

The problem was, as Sebastian realized while he was driving, that he really did not know his brother. Before everything began and he and his brother were pulled out of school to go to Washington, Sebastian and his family had had the kind of relationship that was mostly conducted through e-mail, text, and missed phone calls. Thinking back to the last few months all that Sebastian could remember was how much Garret complained about not being able to stay at school. 

Maybe he’d gone back there. Sebastian doubted it. He wouldn’t be stupid enough to head up to Boston. At least, Sebastian didn’t think we was. 

He pulled one of the bags with food from the backseat and opened up a box of crackers. It would do for the moment. He ate each cracker careful of the crumbs and looked out at the road. What would happen at night there? Would the zombies come out?

Sebastian started the car back up. He would keep driving for just a little bit longer. 

About a half hour later he came to a standstill because just beyond, lit up by his headlights was a group of them. Six or more, he couldn’t tell, and they had been surprised by his car and the light. 

“Shit,” Sebastian muttered and he put the car in reverse and he back up, staring only at his rearview mirror as he did. 

His hands were shaking and he didn’t know if he would make it. When his car bumped into another he made a growling noise, and let his gaze fall back to in front of him. They were coming, but he’d moved fast. If he hurried he might be able to turn the car and then find the nearest exit. 

Sebastian was quick and but he still managed to hit his car against the other cars a few times before he was turned around and headed the way he came. 

He found the nearest exit that wasn’t too blocked off and drove through it and when he got off the ramp found himself on another highway. 

Sebastian took a few deep breaths but only after he looked around to see if any zombies would be waiting for him there. There were none. It didn’t mean they weren’t near. 

\- - -

Blaine felt like he’d made a mistake. He knew that Kurt was hurting. So was he, and so was everyone else around them. Losing one of their own was eye opening. It made him realize that the way they were going about everything was wrong. Their world was more dangerous than ever and they needed to survive it and to survive it they needed to be safe. 

He’d left Kurt alone, choosing to spend most of his day with Sam, Tina, and Mike playing Uno. He hoped that if Kurt was left alone that maybe he would come to his senses and realize that his need to leave was not natural and that it might get him hurt. 

So, when Santana pointed out that it was Kurt’s turn to make food and that he wasn’t in the kitchen, Blaine had to get up and volunteer in his place. Kurt might have forgotten, but Blaine was willing to pick up the slack. 

He made them all sandwiches, noticing that it was the last of their bread. It wasn’t until he was handing out the food that he realized that Elliott was nowhere to be found. 

“He didn’t leave again, did he?” he asked Sam. 

“I don’t see his crossbow?” Sam said, “but his bag is still here. And, um, I don’t want to alarm you, but I don’t see Kurt’s swords either.”

They all started to search for them, but the house was small enough that it only took them minutes. 

“Where could they have gone?” 

He was freaking out. Every scenario possible was going through his head. He couldn’t imagine why Kurt had thought it was a good idea to just leave the house without telling anyone, but whatever reason, Blaine knew it had to have been thoughtless. After everything that happened just the day before, he couldn’t fathom why Kurt would take such a risk. 

“Blaine, Blaine,” Sam said, “stop, stop freaking out. He’ll be okay. He’ll be back before you know it.” 

“I have to go out there. I have to go look for him….”

“No, you don’t,” Santana said, “if Casper the friendly gay and his sparkly companion Starchild want to go out there then let them, but we don’t have to go after them.” 

Everyone fell quiet. Quinn looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what she wanted to say. Mike was shaking his head and Blaine knew that at least he would support him, but even Sam looked like he agreed with Santana. It was Tina that broke the silence. 

“As long as you’re safe and you’re not in danger you don’t care about anyone else,” she said staring right at Santana.

Blaine and probably everyone else in the room expected Santana to make a quip, to respond in some way, but instead she looked at the ground. 

“You’re a coward,” Tina said, “but you think you’re strong. I know you’re not and god am I happy I know. I wouldn’t be alive and it would have been your fault and I’m not about to let Kurt and Elliott die because of you.” 

Tina spun on her heel ready to walk towards the door, but came to a stop because Kurt and Elliott were back and Kurt’s grin fell from his lips. 

“What’s – what’s going on?”

“Oh my god,” Blaine breathed and he ran at him. He didn’t even care that whatever Santana and Tina had had going between them for days was finally coming out to the open. 

Kurt was back and he was okay and Blaine had him in his arms again. 

“What the hell were you thinking,” he whispered and pulled back, “and where the hell did you go?”

\- - -

Kurt could tell the moment when he lost them. At first they were excited. He’d been able to talk to Carole and give them some news, but when he mentioned that they would be leaving to meet his dad and stepmom, the arguments broke out again. Kurt had imagined that things would go differently if they had a destination and a reason for their destination but none of them felt like they had a real reason to go. 

“It’s all well and good for you, Hummel,” Santana said, “you get to reunite with daddy dearest, but what’s in it for the rest of us.” 

Tina snorted. “I think we should go,” she said.

“What, so you can become another Rachel, or get someone else killed?” 

“Santana!” Kurt hissed.

Dani hit her on the shoulder. “That’s taking it too far,” she said and shook her head.

“I’m sorry,” Santana said, “but I’m right. If we leave then we are in danger. How many of us might die just so Kurt can be with his dad again?”

The arguments sprung from there, but Kurt remained silent. He knew already what he was going to do. He would leave. If he and Elliott had to go alone they would, but Kurt needed to leave and now that he knew he might get to see his dad again there was nothing that would change his mind not even how Blaine’s eyes seemed to be pleading that they stay. 

“I’m with you,” Sam said suddenly.

“Yeah?” Kurt asked.

“Burt is like…he was like a dad to me for a few years there and I want to see him again. It’s not going to be easy, but none of us are probably going to get to see our families. We are a family and yeah, I’ll come with you.”

Sam didn’t speak loud enough for the rest of them to hear, but Kurt knew that Blaine who was sitting next to him had heard. 

Across the room he met Dani’s eyes and she nodded at him. He could add one more to the group that would leave with him. Kurt looked around the room. Santana was silent, watching everyone like he was, but next to her Quinn was talking to Mike, their voices loud. Next to Mike Tina was talking to Elliott and Artie. 

He could count Artie out. For all that Tina would argue for him Kurt knew she wouldn’t be coming with them. Mike and Tina’s rekindling relationship would mean he would be staying behind as well. Kurt couldn’t be sure where Quinn would stand but he knew he had Elliott on his side. Kurt was sure that Santana would stay behind as well and that might count Dani out unless Dani could convince her to come with them. What Kurt was less and less sure about was Blaine’s decision on the matter. Would he follow Kurt just because he didn’t want them to get separated?

Kurt stood up. “I hoped that we could just agree, but it’s obvious we won’t. So, this is the parting of the ways. Elliott and I are leaving tomorrow and whoever wants to join us can. If no one does, well, we’re leaving anyway.”

\- - -

Sebastian didn’t sleep. He kept driving for a while, but then he pulled over and hid the car and climbed into the back. He ate and drank and tried to get a few hours of sleep, but all he could think about was the zombies finding him and being too deep asleep to be able to do anything before they were eating him. 

Sebastian knew that logically he would wake up before they could get inside the car, but his thoughts were just running away with him. Sebastian wouldn’t have admitted it if someone else had been with him, but he was scared. If he was this scared, how was Garret doing? How had anyone handled it?

He stared at the ceiling. There had been many times when he’d thought about Ohio and Dalton and even NYU and how it was all fairing. At one point he’d even wondered about the Warblers, all the guys he’d been at school with and as a result Blaine Anderson and his boyfriend turned fiancé Kurt Hummel. 

Once a few weeks before he was pulled out of school he’d seen them at a café because of course they would find somewhere to have their coffee dates. For a few seconds he’d considered going over and bothering them like old times, but he’d thought better of it. 

Instead, he’d just kept walking. Now, looking back he wished he’d gone to see them once more. He doubted he would ever see them again. Unless Burt Hummel had managed to use his connections to get his son and his son’s boyfriend out of New York before everything went batshit crazy, because the way his mom had explained it the big cities with their over population would be exactly the kind of place that would cause chaos. 

She had been mad when the government arranged it so people headed to the big cities, but no one had wanted to listen to her. What did a scientist know about protecting the citizens of a country?

If Garret had gone to find someone, Sebastian imagined that it would have been a friend or perhaps a girlfriend or maybe a boyfriend. Sebastian couldn’t remember if his brother had been dating anyone. Why hadn’t he bothered to ask? He’d been stupid not to. 

\- - -

Kurt and Elliott had their bags packed and they put them in one of the cars. Not Blaine’s because Kurt didn’t know if he could take it if Blaine didn’t come with them. Sam who had definitely made up his mind added his stuff to theirs and Dani and Santana did the same. 

“Don’t give me that look,” she muttered to Kurt, “I just didn’t think Pamela Lansbury needed to be broken up.”

Dani smiled at Kurt and Elliott both. “It’s more to do with being as far away from Tina as possible.”

When Quinn walked out of the house Kurt was almost surprised that she would be coming with them, but she shook her head. 

“I would,” she said, “but I’ve had enough of being on the road, and I don’t think – well, I want to be able to keep those guys safe. Mike can’t do it on his own.” 

At least her reasons weren’t cowardly. Kurt could agree with her that he’d worried about Tina and Artie on their own. Artie in his wheelchair couldn’t do much in the way of fighting and Tina had proven to not be very good at it. But Quinn and Mike would keep them safe and maybe at some point they would meet up again. 

“I get it,” he said, “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss all of you,” Quinn said and she hugged each of them, “and I want you to promise you will all stay alive.” 

She helped them grab a few supplies into the car including food which Kurt tried to tell her to keep. 

“Just in case,” she said, “you may not find anything quickly enough.”

Mike came out to say goodbye followed by Tina. Artie wheeled himself out too and Kurt knew that Blaine had to be awake somewhere in the house and he was getting antsy that he hadn’t come out. 

“Maybe he’s packing,” Dani said, “he’s coming. He has to.”

Sam nodded, but Kurt could tell that he wasn’t sure. 

“What if he doesn’t?” Santana asked, “what if curly top doesn’t…”

Kurt closed his eyes and he took a deep breath. “Well,” he said, “then he’s made his choice.”

He could feel his eyes filling up, but he tried not to cry. If Blaine stayed then what did that mean for them? Kurt didn’t want to think about it. Blaine would come. He was just packing. He was coming. He had to.

“I’ll go check on him,” Sam said.

Kurt nodded and watched Sam go. 

Elliott placed a hand on his shoulder and when Kurt looked up at him there was understanding all over his face. 

“What if…” Kurt whispered. 

“His loss,” Elliott said.

“I love him,” Kurt said.

Elliott nodded. “He loves you.”

It took a few minutes, but Sam returned. He didn’t say anything and Kurt opened his mouth but could only inhale breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the return of The Walking Dead prompted me into writing this chapter. Also, exciting news, I know exactly where this story is going! I cannot wait to start working on chapter nine. I have pretty much the next few chapters figured out and things are going to just get crazier. 
> 
> Hope you liked it and I hope I'll have the time to write the next one quickly.


	9. Of Finding and Encountering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First I must address a few things that came up about the last chapter. 1. there was an anon I responded to on here who has hopefully read my response about the cliffhanger -- so if you're still around and haven't read it...I'll point you to it. My job as a writer is to create tension among the characters and ultimate resolve the problems that arise. I am not doing it for shock value....but presenting these characters realistically in the situation they are placed. I explain much better in the comment I responded. 
> 
> 2\. Someone mentioned to me that Kurt saying Finn and Rachel were essentially in heaven was bit OOC for Kurt and I agree...but the reason that Carole doesn't say it (as originally planned) is because I felt like throughout that chapter Kurt never really reacts to Rachel's death...he just keeps on pushing for them to leave and I needed him to acknowledge it. Since I myself am on the line of Agsnostic/Atheist and I know I would say something like what he said I felt it would be fine. 
> 
> Other than that, enjoy the new chapter.

The first human that Sebastian saw was a young woman. He spotted her going into a store, and he saw the shotgun she held in her hands. Sebastian didn’t approach her, knowing that it would be best to leave her alone. Instead, he kept driving. He knew his brother had gone north and it was best if he tried to get back on the I-95. 

It took him a while, but when he did it was to find a couple of zombies. He drove past them, knowing they were too slow to catch up to him in his car. Still, for a while afterwards he kept glancing at his mirror trying to make sure he wasn’t being followed. 

Afterwards he just kept driving. He’d managed to try and brainstorm where his brother might have gone and aside from going back to his school, Sebastian had realized that there was one other place and it was closer. Their granparent’s house. 

The relationship between Sebastian and his grandparents on his father’s side was best described as tentative. His mom and dad only spoke to his dad’s family on holidays. The Smythes hadn’t been happy when they heard about Sebastian’s sexuality. But, Sebastian had been lucky to be born to parents that accepted him just as he was. His brother, had never quite broken tied with their grandparents. 

In fact, and Sebastian thought he had been stupid to not think about it, he had begged their dad to take them with them. Their parents had shot Garret down. Sebastian smiled a little. If nothing else, he would have stopped there before continuing north. It was even in the way. 

Sebastian chewed on a granola bar as he drove, continuing on I-95 to head into Delaware. It would take him about an hour or two to get to their town, it would be finding their house that might be harder because Sebastian hadn’t been there since he was small. 

Still, an hour and a half later he was in Delaware and he had to just drive a little further before he got to Wilmington. Then, he would need to figure out just where his grandparents were living. 

He had gotten so excited about having a destination that Sebastian hadn’t thought to keep an eye on his gas meter. Not until he happened to glance down to see that the gas light was on. 

“Shit,” he muttered. 

He had a few gallons stored in the trunk, but he should have realized earlier so he could find a better place to stop. As it was, he had to pull over in the middle of the road. 

It was quiet, but that was no determining factor for where zombies might be located. 

Sebastian worked as quickly as he could, getting a funnel out and putting it in place before he brought the red heavy container. He uncapped it and then began to pour the gas into his car. It was just as he was finishing that he heard something behind him. 

Sebastian turned slowly, lowering the gas container. Standing just a few feet away a zombie had sneaked up on him. It shuffled forward, the jeans it wore so ragged and hanging off of him that Sebastian couldn’t figure out how it had managed to sneak up on him. 

It was only when it had gotten close enough to touch him, that Sebastian moved, leaving the container behind in order to close up his car’s tank. The zombie reached out towards him and Sebastian let out a whimper. 

“Oh no,” he said, “nope, nope, nope, this is not happening.” He shoved it back, and it made a gargling noise and came at Sebastian again, surprisingly strong. 

Why had he left his weapons in the car? Sebastian leaned back against the car, trying with all his might to push it away. Somehow, he managed to slide to the side and zombie just walked forward, hitting the car. 

It was enough time for Sebastian to scramble back inside the car. He turned on with shaking hands, almost dropping the keys, and then he was pressing on the accelerator and heading away. 

A few minutes later he slowed down. His breathing was erratic and his heart was still pounding. Tears that had been shed in the moment were dried on his face and he wiped away the sweat along with them on a dirty t-shirt. 

\- - - 

Blaine had known there was no decision to make, but it hadn’t made him worry less. To stay behind would have been to break off his engagement to Kurt, it would have meant saying goodbye to the love of his life. Still, a part of him while he packed, felt like he was making the choice for all the wrong reasons. 

There were plenty of reasons to stay, but Kurt outweighed every reason. Blaine would not be separated from Kurt. He would face every fear that came at him in order to be by Kurt’s side. It hurt that Kurt didn’t seem to think so. Blaine just thought he needed more time. Time to remember that he agreed with Kurt, and time to come to terms with how Rachel died and how much of it wasn’t his fault. 

It stung when he saw Kurt’s surprise at seeing him come out with Sam. To know that Kurt had already been preparing himself for the worst instead of being sure that Blaine would follow him to ends of the earth. 

“Did you think I could stand to stay behind?” Blaine asked.

Kurt took his time to recover, wiping at his eyes. “I hoped,” he mumbled.

Sam grabbed Blaine’s bags and that left him free to wrap his arms around Kurt. “You told me,” Blaine said, “you would never say goodbye to me. Well, I am never saying goodbye to you either.”

After that all the last logistics were figured out, and now that Blaine was going with them, they made the decision to take his car as well as Elliott’s Jeep – acquired on their way through New Jersey. 

“I really thought you were going to stay,” Kurt told Blaine ten minutes after they left the house behind. 

He, Kurt, and Sam were in Blaine’s car and Sam had offered to drive for the first leg of their trip. So Kurt and Blaine were in the back. 

“I considered it,” Blaine said, “it hurt so much to think of it but I knew I had to. Kurt, I love you so much, and I kept hoping that if I made it clear I was staying that you would change your mind. But, after you left with Elliott yesterday without even telling any of us I knew that you were serious about all of this and that even I couldn’t make you stay. If I stayed I would have followed you eventually. It would have been a mistake. I’ve made enough mistakes when it comes to us.”

Blaine hadn’t realized that he was crying until Kurt was wiping away his tears. “Oh, honey, no, no don’t cry,” Kurt said and he removed his seatbelt to move closer, cradling Blaine’s head and bringing it against his shoulder. 

 

“I love you so much Blaine. The past is the past. We’re together and we’re going to see my dad and sweetheart, you didn’t make a mistake today.”

Blaine nodded against Kurt’s shoulder and eventually he fell asleep there and Kurt just pulled him closer. 

\- - -

Wilmington was big as it turned out, and after driving around aimlessly and not finding anyone or anything, Sebastian decided that he may as well stop and perhaps try to find an address book or something that might help him find his grandparents and through them his brother. 

It was surprising to him that he didn’t see any people. They couldn’t all be zombies, but he couldn’t imagine that they had all left town either. Maybe they were just holed up in their homes trying to wait it out. 

He found the public library and parked in front of it. He grabbed one of the guns and stuck it in the back of his jeans and then he walked up to the door which as expected was closed. 

Sebastian walked around. There had to be another door or perhaps a window he could break to get inside. The back door was locked too, but next to it was a window. He used the gun to break the glass and then careful of the glass lifted the window so he could climb in. Despite trying to be careful by the time he’d made it inside, he had a cut on his left arm. 

It was just deeper than scratch, so he wiped the blood off and continued inside. Had he been able to look on the computer system things would have been much easier, but Sebastian settled for finding the paper copies of the patron’s records. His grandmother was an avid reader. Sebastian only knew that because his mom always sent her books for Christmas. She had to have a library card as well. 

He opened all the filing cabinets and it wasn’t until he was looking at the last drawer of the second that he found what he was looking for. It was files upon files but at least they were alphabetized. 

It took him a while before he finally found it, a yellowing note card with his grandmother’s name, Emily Smythe. There was a phone number listed and just below it an address. He took the card with him, walking out the front door and stopping just outside because in the time that it had taken him to find the note card a few zombies had wandered out. 

“Well isn’t this just lovely,” Sebastian muttered. He took the gun out, taking the safety off. 

He walked down the stairs as quietly as possible. If he didn’t attract their attention then he could probably get into his car and drive away. It was the best solution. Sebastian took a deep breath. The gun was held in front of him, and despite knowing that he knew how to use the gun, Sebastian was sure that he wouldn’t use it. 

“Oh god,” he muttered. He moved faster. 

The car door was just feet away. He shuffled closer, eyes darting this way and that. Somehow he made it into the car and there he began to freak out. It took him a few minutes to calm down and then he turned on the car which definitely alerted them to his presence. Their heads lifted and they started walking in his direction but Sebastian was already driving. 

He had to find the house. It would be in the nice part of town, so he drove in that direction and he started looking at every street name until about forty minutes later he finally found the right street. Finding the house was easier. It was the large one at the end, and just as he had hoped there was a car parked outside that had definitely belonged to the lab. He drove faster and left his car parked in the middle of the street and then he was running to the front door. 

\- - -

They stopped a couple of times to regroup. Without phones it was hard to communicate with the others, so every hour or so, they stopped and stretched their legs and decided on if they needed to stop somewhere to get anything. Kurt thought that they were making good time and somehow they hadn’t managed to hit any trouble. By the time they were out of New Jersey and crossing the Delaware Memorial Bridge, Kurt was sure that they would get to Washington in one piece, and then they realized that they were running out of gas. 

“We’ll have to go into town,” Sam said, “find a car with gas or something. Because for some reason the highway’s been deserted.”

It was true, the further south they went the less cars they saw. Blaine who was at the wheel flashed their lights at the others and they came to a stop. The others didn’t stop too far away and then they saw them getting out of the car so Kurt did the same and Blaine and Sam followed. 

“Gas,” Kurt said, “we’re going to need some.”

“Us too,” Elliott said, “say we take the next exit and see what we can find?”

“That’s what we were thinking,” Sam said.

They were back on the road at once with Blaine still driving. 

“What do you think Washington is like right now?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know,” Kurt admitted. He had been thinking about it a lot, wondering if President Obama and his family were still even in Washington D.C., or if they had left to some bunker somewhere with other important people. 

Sam who was in the back seat, moved so he was in the middle seat, “I heard,” he said, “that the president in a situation like this would be moved to Cuba.”

“Cuba?” Kurt asked, “why there?” 

“I have no idea,” Sam said.

“Well,” Blaine said, “there is the doomsday plane right, where the president, vice president, and the secretary of defense and a few other officials are put. I read about it a while ago, but in any state of emergency they are put in the air. Obviously, we don’t know how quickly that happened this time but it’s supposed to be able to stay in the air for like a week or something, but it has to take them somewhere at some point. I doubt they’re even in the country. It may as well be Cuba as some random island out there.”

“Huh,” Kurt said, “where did you read that?” 

Blaine shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea. Maybe at Dalton, or it was some article online. I really miss the internet.”

They stopped behind the jeep which Elliott had parked. They were in a nice looking town and a few cars were sitting around them. 

“Alright, then,” Kurt said and he reached for his swords just in case because even though it was quiet for the moment that could change quickly. Somehow, though, no zombies appeared while they managed to get some gas out of the cars around them. 

Once they had filled up, they were ready to get back on the road. 

“Let’s pick up supplies,” Dani said, “this town doesn’t seem bad and we might be able to find something.”

She made a good point, so instead of leaving, they grabbed their weapons, locked their cars and then started towards what looked like a few small stores. 

\- - -

Sebastian knocked on the door repeatedly but no one answered. So, after waiting a few minutes, he walked around the house to the back, trying to peer in through the windows as he went, but there were curtains drawn across every window. 

There was a large deck at the back of the house, but the door was made of glass and he could see inside. The door was locked, but when he knocked on it, it made a loud sound and a young woman looked out. Then, behind her came Garret. 

“Sebastian,” he said when he opened the door, “what are you doing here?” 

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here? Now let me in.”

Garret stepped aside and let him inside. Sebastian had never been inside his grandparent’s house, and if he had he didn’t remember. 

“Are they here?” Sebastian asked. 

“No,” Garret said, “I hoped, but they’re not. I don’t know what happened to them.”

The girl Sebastian had seen earlier reappeared. 

“And who is this?” Sebastian asked. 

Garret sighed. “My girlfriend,” he said, “I managed to talk to her a few weeks ago and we agreed to meet here. I wanted to make sure Granny and Pop were alright and I guess they’re not. I can’t believe mom and dad didn’t bring them with us.”

Sebastian was amazed that he had managed to actually find his brother but that didn’t stop him from being angry. 

“You are such an idiot,” he said, “do you know what you’ve put us through to not find you. You didn’t even leaving a fucking note.”

Garret had the decency to look guilty, but that didn’t change his actions. 

“Anything could happened to you,” Sebastian said, “did you even have a weapon?” 

When Garret shook his head, Sebastian just rolled his eyes. “Of course you didn’t,” he said, “how did you even manage to get here?” 

Garret walked towards Sebastian and wrapped his arms around him. Sebastian who wasn’t used to his brother hugging him, lifted his arms to hug him back a little late. 

“What now?” Garret asked. 

“We go back,” Sebastian said and then turned to the girlfriend as he let Garret go, “what’s your name again?” 

“Annie,” she said, “I’ve heard a bit about you. I’m guessing you haven’t heard about me.”

“Not a thing,” Sebastian said and then, “come on, we’re leaving now. Mom and dad don’t need to worry any more than they probably are with both of us out here.”

Garret nodded. He and Annie went to grab their things and Sebastian looked outside to make sure nothing had changed before he headed out to the car. It didn’t take long for them to join him. Garret went back to his car to grab a few things, but then they were settled and ready to go and Sebastian was surprised at how easy it had all turned out to be. 

\- - -

“Is that a car?” 

Kurt came to a stop. It was. They were in one of the local drug stores which seemed to still have a few things left. 

“Yes,” he said, “sounds like it.”

So far they hadn’t encountered a lot of people. From afar they had seen people walking about, or someone in a car far enough away that if they noticed them it wouldn’t be a big deal. There were probably plenty of people hiding away in apartments or houses around this very town, but no one wanted to bother them which was just fine by Kurt because they had enough to worry about. 

“Come on, we should hurry. There wasn’t much left here and if it’s someone that’s moving they’ll be looking for supplies,” Sam said. 

Blaine nodded along, so they gathered a few more things and they stepped out onto the street. Kurt ended up walking next to Santana. He didn’t know what to think about Santana. He had known it was weird when Tina had his sword after he’d given it to her. He hadn’t wanted to question it too much, but to know that Santana had apparently refused to help Tina made him wonder if bringing her along was smart. 

“What’s got you so thoughtful?” She asked, “Frodo over there came with us, and you’re going to see your dad. What’s the matter now?” 

He sighed. “Santana, you’re my friend. You were my roommate and you know I care about you.”

“But what I did to Tina was horrible,” she finished and shook her head, “was I supposed to defend her? We would have both died. I was scared out of my freaking mind and my life is more important to me than hers. I gave her the sword. She had a weapon. I don’t – I’m not apologizing for what I couldn’t help.”

That said she walked away to join Elliott and Dani who were deep in conversation. Kurt sighed. As long as she didn’t cause them any problems, he was going to have to let it go. Santana despite being misguided was still one of their own.

“How much longer do you think we have to drive?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know,” Kurt said, “a couple of hours.”

They were crossing the street towards their cars when they saw the car they’d heard earlier. It was simple and just a little banged up. 

“Hey does the driver look familiar?” Blaine asked. 

Kurt who hadn’t been paying attention shook his head, but then Sam laughed. 

“Of all the people,” he said, “it’s that warbler, the obnoxious one. I forgot his name.”

“Sebastian Smythe,” Blaine supplied.

Kurt had to laugh. “Why am I not surprised, he’s like a damn roach. What the hell is he doing here?” 

It seemed that Sebastian had noticed and recognized them as well, because he stopped right in front of them, cut off his engine and got out of the car. 

“Well, well, well,” he said and smirked, “fancy meeting you lot at the end of the world. And I must say, Blaine, you’re still looking good.” His eyes did a scan of Blaine’s body and then they moved to Kurt, “and it’s nice to see you’ve ditched the girl clothes, Kurt, one might think you actually have a dick.” 

“Hey!” Elliott said at once.

Sebastian’s eyes moved towards Elliott and he licked his lips. “Well, hello, now that’s more like a man.” 

Two people got out of the car and the boy hit Sebastian. “Bas, stop being such an ass.”

“Kurt here just brings it out of me, what can I say.”

“Well,” Kurt said, “I think we’ll go our separate ways. Goodbye Sebastian.” 

He continued on towards the cars and he heard the others follow. 

“Wait,” Sebastian called, “where are you going?” 

Kurt didn’t think he deserved an answer. He got into Blaine’s car and heard the others do the same, but Sebastian had chased them. 

“Listen, I’m sorry. It’s habit, but I do know you guys and we’re going somewhere safe. There’s this lab. They’re trying to figure out a way to solve the zombie issue. Um, you can follow us there. It’s completely safe.”

Kurt was surprised. He hadn’t expected for Sebastian to actually act like a decent human being. 

“We’re going to Washington,” he found himself saying, “my step mom said she and my dad were going to be moved there.”

Sebastian smiled, which for a moment Kurt thought looked odd on his face. “Well,” he said, “I think we’re going to the same place.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so excited for Sebastian to see the group. I've been aiming for this for a while and finally which explains why so much of this chapter was Sebastian focused. I'm excited to see what will happen to them next because I'm not too sure yet. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter out sooner rather than later.


End file.
